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THE BOROUGH 
OF THE BRONX 

1639 - 1913 

ITS MARVELOUS 
DEVELOPMENT 
AND HISTORICAL 
SURROUNDINGS 



BY 

HARRY T. COOK 

ASSISTED BY 
NATHAN J. KAPLAN 



PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 

AT 1660 BOONE AVENUE. NEW YORK 

1913 






COPYRIGHT. 1913 

BY 

HARRY T. COOK 

Al-U RIOHTS RESERVED 



DEC 31 mi 



€'CI,A362006 



FOREWORD 

The Purpose of this book is to tell the story of the wonderful rise and de- 
velopment of the Borough of The Bronx. It is a story of heroic endeavor, 
individual self-denial, slow progress and final triumph. The hardy pioneers 
who sacrificed their comforts and lives to wrest the wilderness from its 
savage lords, and who blazed the path for progress and civilization, builded 
better than they knew. 

The teeming Borough today is a nqble monument to the greatness of the 
men who brought it into being. As long as it endures their achievements 
•will be told in song and story. 

Here will be found a record of the extraordinary growth of this great 
Borough. It is not the purpose of this work, however, to give a detailed 
description of the early history of The Bronx, but rather a brief summary of 
the most memorable events in its historical, commercial and municipal 
development. 

It has been the aim of this book to indicate the modern development and 
future prospects of the Borough as well as to create associations of Colonial 
and Revolutionary memories with which almost every inch of ground in the 
Borough is hallowed. 

In compiling a work of this kind, the author has had much assistance in 
gathering material and making it accurate and authentic. He is especially 
indebted to Mr. Nathan J. Kaplan for assistance rendered, suggestions made 
and material furnished; also to Mr. James L. Wells, Mr. Louis F. Haffen, 
Mr. Walter G. Scott, Mr. Lindsay M'Kenna, and Mr. Randall Comfort, who 
furnished many of the photographs illustrating this book — all of whom have 
rendered valuable service and made possible the publishing of this book. 

Where facts could not be obtained from local residents, the author con- 
sulted early histories and documents for his data. 

Chief among the books consulted were Bolton's "History of Westchester 
County"; Scharf's "History of Westchester County"; Comfort's "History of 
the Borough of the Bronx"; Kelly's "Historic Guide to New York"; and 
Jenkins' "The Story of The Bronx." The last mentioned work has been re- 
cently issued and contains a mine of historic information relative to the 
Borough. Besides these, a host of minor books, encyclopedias, newspapers 
and magazines were drawn upon. 

HARRY T. COOK. 



I_ike tall monument of granite 
Standeth Tackamuck, the mourner, 
Grieving for his vanished nation 
Long years thriving in their vigor 
'Mong the Bronx hills, but now scattered 
As dead leaves by blasts of autumn. 

In his vision sad the chieftain 
Sees of white man's arts the progress 
Through the long moons — arts transplanted 
From the distant lands of sunrise 
To grow fair in western tillage 
And displace the Indian customs. 

Out of stone brought fi-om the quarries 
The new builder rears his dwellings 
Towering like the pines of forest, 
Steadfast in the gales of winter. 
Better than the deerskin wigwam 
Gone from sight upon the morrow. 

Through the waters once so tranquil — 
On their placid wave reflecting 
All the blueness of the heaven — 
Now the boats of the bold stranger. 
Every birch canoe surpassing, 
Swiftly dash, like the strong salmon. 

O'er the plains the steam horse rushes. 
Faster than the flying pony 
Ridden once by fearless warrior; 
In the air above the tree tops 
Soar the winged ships like eagles. 
Mounting to the highest heaven. 

All, O Tackamuck, has altered 
Since in Bronx woods roamed thy people; 
Yet their setting suns are followed 
By a better morning's sunrise 
For the Indian who surviveth 
And for him who is thy brother. 

'Tis the will of the Great Spirit 
Ruling high above the storm clouds. 
Maker of this earth so beauteous, 
With its satisfying fountains 
Flowing full for all his children. 
Both the Red Man and the Pale Face. 

— A. B. Sanford. 



CONTENTS 



Chaptes Pa«s 

I. EAULY HISTORY i 

He^nry Hodsmi Skirts the Western Shore of The Bronx. 1609 
— His Kneoonter with the Indians — Adrien Block Explores the 
Eas-era ^K>re, 1614 — The Settlement and Dev^o^nent of The 
Bronx — ^An Intimate Recital of Jonas Brai^ the First White 
Settler to Locate There. 

n. MORRISANTA 12 

CoIoDial and Revtdationary Days — Story of the Public-Spirited 
and Patriotic Moms Family — Lewis Morris. Signer of the Dec- 
laratioa of Indep^idaice. Who Backed tip His Signanir« by 
Joining the Army with His Three Sons— -Goaverneor Morris, 
Statesman and Diplomat — Landmarks in Morrisania — Founda- 
tion of \ lUage in 154*. 

m. DEVELOPMEXT OF THE BROXX 23 

What Organised and IntdKgent ESort has Accomplished — The 
Rush of Ca|Htal and Steady Flow of Population. 

rV'. A CITY WITHIX A CITY -30 

How the Child Grew up a Giant — The Past Speaks in Thtmder 
Tones or tie PrvKperity Advancing Years Bring to the Home, 
the Merchant and the Manufacmrer — What Rapid Transit 
Stands for in the Growth of a Metroptdis. 

V. BIG IXDUSTRIES 36 

Where Men and Wom^i Shop — The Facilities Offered by Trac- 
tion Con:paniei — Proposed Improvanents. 

VI. THE STORY OF GREAT BRIDGES 45 

i -e Water Front That Invites Big Ships from Over the Seven 
Se.is — Early Highways- 

\TL THE PARKS 56 

The Parks Show Xarane in Her Happiest Mood — Broad Acres 

Yield to Sport and Sentiment — Scenes Hallowed by Sacrifices 
and Struggles of Otir Ancestors — ^A Page of Old History — The 
Bronx Beantiftil Society. 

Vm. EDUCATIOXAL IXSTITUTIOXS 72 

How the Furore of the Child is Anticipated and the Schools 
Ttim Oat the Men and Women of Tomorrow — Chur\:hes — How 
the Spiriroal and Moral Welfare is Looked After — Hospitals — 
Benevolent and Charitable Institaticws — Ceaneteri^ 

rS. OAK POrXT 83 

The "Cradle of Cuban Liberty" — Wreck of the British Frigate 

X. HtXT-S POIXT S9 

Colonial and Revolutionary Dajrs — ^The Story of Joseph Rod- 
man Drake — -A Visit to "God's little Acre." 

XI. THE R03IAXCE OF BESSIE WARREX 102 

The Daughter of Old Simon the Landlord of the "King's Arms" 
— Her Love for the Dashing Officer Who Was Branded" a British 
Spy — The Maiden Who Did Xot Forget But Answered the Sam- 



CONTENTS 

mons of a Beckoning Spirit and Was Taken Over the Great 
Beyond. 

XII. The "NEUTRAL GROUND" 106 

The Indian Cave — Leggett and His Stolen Mare — The West- 
chester Guides — Barretto's Point — Wooden Armchairs that 
Came over \vith the Pilgrim Fathers. 

XIII. NATHAN HALE 112 

"I regret That I Have But One Life to Lose for My Country" 

— Capt. Hale, the Patriot, Scholar and Soldier, Whose Mission 
Brought Him Death But Spread His Name on the Living Pages 
of History. 

XIV. CLASON'S POINT 119 

The Coney Island of The Bronx — Cornell's Neck— Three Clergy- 
men Who Hid in a Farm House in the Days of the Revolution — 
The Distinction of the Ferris Mansion at Zerega's Point — The 
Fate of Anne Hutchinson. 

XV. THROGG'S NECK , 126 

"The Lexineton of We<!tchester"— How American Patriots Re- 
pulsed the Enemy at Throgg's Neck — Colonel John Glover, the 
Hero of Pell's Point, Who Saved Washington from Disastrous 
Defeat — "Spy Oak," from Whose branches a Red-Coat was 
Hanged. 

XVI. CITY ISLAND AND EASTCHESTER 133 

The Blacksmith Who Refused to Shoe a Horse on Sunday — 
Scenes That Figure in the Fight for Independence — President 
John Adams in The Bronx. 

XVII. WEST FARMS 141 

The Homes of Notable Men: Foxhurst, Brightside, Sitnnyside — 
The Quaint Presb^■terian Church at the Graves Where Heroes 
Lie Buried— The Draft Riots During the Civil War— "Wish- 
ing Rock," Where the Algonquin Braves Wooed the Fair Stock- 
bridge Maids. 

XVIII. FORDHAM MANOR 150 

Edgar Allan Poe and His Cottage at Fordham, Where He Won a 
Niche in the Hall of Fame That He had Not Dreamed of — Fred- 
erick Philipse Whose Ships Brought Fortunes to These Shores. 

XIX. HISTORIC KINGSBRIDGE 158 

Fort Independence and Other Old Fortifications — Story of Gen- 
eral Richard Montgomery the Hero of Quebec. 

XX. THE VAN CORTLANDTS 167 

The Old Public-Spirited Colonial Family Who Figured Promi- 
nently in American History — Cortlandt Manor Founded, 1C97 
— Pierre and Philip Van "Cortlandt Who Scorned England's 
Promises and Favors and Espoused the American Cause. 

XXI. PELHAM AND WESTCHESTER 173 

Thomas Pell the Founder of Pelham Manor — The Glittering 
Pageant of Lord Howe's Troops to Impress the Westchesterites 
With the Strength of the British Army— History of St. Peter's 
Church, Westchester. 

XXII. THE OLD TIMERS' ASSOCIATION 183 

Men Who Have Been Residents of The Bronx for Fifty Years 

or More — An Interesting Chapter Bv its Historian. Sidwell S. 
Randall. 

INDEX 189 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
Signinjr the Treaty with the Indians in 11U2 at the Home of Jonas 

Bronck ". Frontispiece 

Puddinjr Rock 3 

Henry Hudson Monument 4 

Lydig: House, Bronx Park 7 

Lewis Morris 12 

Gouverneur Morris Mansion 16 

Wni. H. Morris Mansion 17 

Outhouse, Morris Farm 18 

Home Street, Looking East from Union Avenue in 1883 28 

Old Vyse Mansion 31 

Junction 149th Street and Third Avenue 37 

McKinley Square 38 

Boston Road, South from lliOth Street in 1883 39 

Forest Avenue, South from Home Street in 1883 40 

King's Bridge over Spuj-ten Duyvil Creek in 1856 46 

Farmer's Bridge (Dyckman's) over Spuyten Duyvil Creek in 1860 47 

Free or Farmer's Bridge in 1910 48 

Macomb's Dam Bridge over Harlem River in 1838 49 

Macomb's Dam Bridge in 1861 50 

Macomb's Mansion Kingsbridge 51 

Willis Avenue Bridge 52 

Pell Treaty Oak. Pelham Bay Park 58 

Van Cortlandt Vault, Van Cortlandt Park 60 

Van Cortlandt Mansion, Van Cortlandt Park 61 

Van Cortlandt Mills 62 

Tenth and Fifteenth Milestones 63 

Hadley House 64 

Indian Monument, Van Cortlandt Park 66 

Elephant House. Bronx Park 67 

"Gunda," the Famous Elephant of Bronx Park Zoo 68 

Bird Court, Bronx Park 69 

Lorillard Mansion, Bronx Park 70 

Bathgate Homestead 71 

New York University 74 

Morris High School 76 

Casanova Mansion 84 

Subterranean Passage and Cells 86 

Leggett's Lane 87 

Hunt's Mansion 93 

Relics Found in Hunt's Mansion 94 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Hunt's Point Cemetery in 1900 98 

Grave of Joseph Rodman Drake 99 

Slave Burying Ground 101 

Indian Cave 107 

Mayflower Chairs 109 

"Woodside" Mansion 110 

The Locusts 113 

Nathan Hale Monument in City Hall Park 116 

Page from Memorandum Book 117 

Watson Mansion 120 

Ferris Mansion, Zerega's Point 121 

Split Rock, Pelham Bay Park 123 

Massacre of Anne Hutchinson's Colony 124 

Spy Oak, Pelham Road 131 

Paul Homestead 132 

Old City Island Bridge 134 

St. Paul's Church, Eastchester 137 

Old Reid's Mill, Eastchester 139 

Old Hunt Inn 142 

West Farms Cemetery 144 

Isaac Varian Homestead 146 

Washington's Gun House 148 

Edgar Allan Poe 150 

Fordham Dutch Reformed Church 154 

Gen. Richard Montgomery 158 

Bronze Tablet, Fort Number One 159 

Rev. Isaac Wilkins 173 

Lord Howe Chestnut 177 

St. Peter's Church, Westchester 179 

Group of "Old Timers" 184 



CHAPTER I 



EARLY HISTORY 



Henry Hudson Skirts the Western Shore of The Bronx, 1609 — His Encounter 
with the Indians — Adrien Block Explores the Eastern Shore, 1614 — 
The Settlement and Development of The Bronx — An Intimate 
Recital of Jonas Bronck, the First White Settler to Locate There. 




The Borough of The Bronx affords a history probably 
more remarkable and more unique than that of any 
of her sister boroughs. Its numerous historic points of 
interest, both civil and military, make it a center 
of attraction to travelers from all over the United 
States. 

The important part The Bronx has played in the 
making of this country's history is, however, not its 
only claim to our interest. Of even greater significance 
is its wonderful and rapid progress. There is not 
another tract of land in the whole United States that 
can boast of so marvelous a growth in population and 
in development within the past ten years. Indeed, so 
prodigious has been its increase and so progressive its develop- 
ment, that it has no parallel in the annals of municipal government. 
Prior to the white man's invasion, this region was inhabited 
by various tribes of Indians, the most noted of which were the 
Mohegans, Weckquaesgeeks. Siwanoy. Sint Sines (or Sint Sincks), 
Kitchenwonks (or Kitchawancs) , Manhattans. Tankitekes and the 
Taekmucks. They were the same in their general habits and 
ways of life, but there was a marked distinction .in their individual 
character. 

No one knows where the North American Indian originally 
came from. There are many ingenious theories to explain his 
presence on this continent. The most plausible and the one most 
generally accepted is, that his ancestors found their way from 
Asia across Behring Strait, many centuries ago, and, migrating 
southward, gradually overspread North and South America. The 
latest scientific researches corroborate this theory. 

1 



2 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Not content with this, scientists go still further back to what 
they term the Glacial Era, when a mass of ice covered this land 
and the only inhabitant of which was the "glacial man." a wild 
savage whose features and characteristics resembled those of the 
Esquimau. 

Geologists who have made a careful study of the Glacial Period, 
or Ice Age, say that in ages past nearly all of North America north 
of the fortieth parallel was covered with moving ice sheets, or 
glaciers. We find evidences of this everywhere even in our own 
Borough, where rock surfaces have been ground and polished, and 
great boulders, which have been carried along hundreds of miles 
by the slowly moving glaciers, have found lodgment here and there. 
The "Rocking Stone," just west of the Buffalo range in Bronx 
Park, which is an example, has been for years one of the curiosities 
of that region. Tradition has it that sachems and medicine-men 
of the various Indian tribes built their council-fires about this 
colossal cube of pinkish granite and held there many a weird 
seance. 

A wager was once made between a neighboring farmer and 
the foreman of the Lydig estate, upon which the stone stood, that 
the combined efforts of twenty-four oxen could not dislodge it 
from its bed, notwithstanding the fact that a single person push- 
ing from the right direction, can easily sway it back and forth. 
The presence of the rock on the same site attests the futility of 
the effort. 

Another gigantic boulder was "Pudding Rock," at Boston 
Road and Cauldwell Avenue, just below East One Hundred Sixty- 
sixth Street. This ancient landmark gained its name from its 
resemblance to a pudding in the bag. On one side of the boulder 
nature had chisled out a fireplace which the Indians used when 
they held their corn feasts. It was also under the cool shade of this 
mammoth rock that the tired Huguenots paused to rest when they 
made their weekly pilgrimage from New Rochelle to worship at the 
shrine of Old Trinity Church. This once cherished landmark is no 
more. In order to make room for a modern residence, it has been 
shattered into a thousand fragments by the advancing march of 
civilization. 

Other noted boulders that have been generally accepted as 
relics of the Pleistocene period are "Black Rock," on Westchester 
Avenue, just above the old Watson estate and the Westchester 



EARLY HISTORY 3 

Golf Club, and "Split Rock," on Prospect Hill Road, in Pel- 
ham Bay Park. This great boulder is one of the interesting 
sights of the neighborhood, and stands a few feet south of Split 
Rock Road, not far from the city line. On a section of the same 
historic roadway from which "Split Rock" may be seen, are 
"Glover's Rock" and "Jack's Rock," the former emblazoned with 




Ptn)DING ROCK 



a bronze tablet in commemoration of the brave patriots under 
Colonel Glover, who, while checking the advance of Howe's army, 
enabled Washington to reach White Plains in safety. Many others 
of less fame are scattered thruout the Borough. 

From an historical point of view, The Bronx had its be- 
ginning September 13, 1609, when Henry Hudson, the intrepid 
English navigator, flying the Orange, White and Blue of the 
United Provinces, sailed up the river which now bears his name; 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



altho its actual history, dates with the arrival, thirty years later, 
of Jonas Bronck, its first white settler. 

To Hudson, who was employed by the Dutch East India Com- 
pany, had been assigned the task of discovering a northwest pas- 
sage to the Pacific — that long-sought sea-way to the Indies, for 
which all the nations and the traders of Europe were then striv- 
ing. He failed in this undertaking,, but he brought back news that 
was of far greater value to the Dutch nation than the route for 
which he had been in search. 

The Dutch were at that time the foremost commercial people 
in the world, and it was not long after Hudson had made known 
his discovery that venturesome Hollanders began to make their 



appearance on Manhattan 
trading with the Indians 
try. As he sailed up the 
the western shore of Man- 
narrow strip of land, thir- 
of the most diversified 
beauty. It is said that 
with the wild, picturesque 
eyes that he anchored the 
Duyvil to get a better and 
chanted land. Hardly had 
when the deep solitude of 
by the loud whoops of In- 
ridge opposite suddenly be- 
horde of savages. Closer 
fied village protected by a 
torians tell us, was the In- 
which was situated on Ber- 
shore of Supyten 
From the ex 
Moon cre- 
evident 
dians were 
know what 
this strange ap- 
anchor off their 




HENRY HUDSON MONUMENT 



Island for the purpose of 
and of exploring the coun- 
magnificent river skirting 
hattan, Hudson found a 
teen and a half miles long, 
scenery and great natural 
Hudson was so impressed 
country spread before his 
Half Moon off Spuyten 
closer view of the en- 
the vessel come to a stop 
the wilderness was broken 
dians, and the wooded 
came alive with a wild 
inspection disclosed a forti- 
strong stockade. This, his- 
dian village of Nipinchsen, 
rian's Neck on the north 

Duyvil Creek. 

citement the Half 
ated, it was 

* that the In- 

at a loss to 

to make of 

parition lying at 

village. Was she 



some evil spirit the medicine-men of some hostile tribe sent to awe 
them, or was she a stranger from some distant country? But 



EARLY HISTORY 5 

whether she was friend or foe, their curiosity would not down, and 
presently they put out from the shore in several canoes and boldly 
headed for the Half Moon. Their dread of the supernatural powers 
the strange craft might possess apparently had forsaken them and 
they came aboard and inspected her with the greatest interest. 
As they started to return to their canoes, an attempt was made 
to detain two of their number. The Indians vigorously resented 
this breach of hospitality. Before the Half Moon got under way 
they leaped overboard and made their escape, and when they 
reached shore they shrieked disdain and scorn at Hudson. 

It may have been a coincidence, but it is an established fact 
that the next stop Hudson made after leaving Spuyten Duyvil was 
Yonkers, then the Indian village of Nappeckamok, and the 
present northern boundary line of The Bronx. It will thus 
be seen that he practically outlined the Borough. Be that as it 
may, The Bronx citizens, at the suggestion of Wm. C. Muschenheim, 
have commemorated that event by erecting a beautiful monument 
on the brow of the hill which overlooks the scene of his first 
anchorage. 

The monument, designed by Walter Cook, is in the shape of a 
Roman Doric column, 100 feet in height, and it stands on an 
elevation of 200 feet from the river. The shaft is to be sur- 
mounted by a sixteen-foot statue of Henry Hudson, sculptured by 
Karl Bitter. There is to be a balcony at the top of the column, 
to be reached by means of a spiral stairway within the shaft, 
from which a magnificent panoramic view of The Bronx can 
be had. 

Another tribute paid to the memory of this great admiral is 
the Hudson Memorial Bridge now in process of construction. This 
magnificent structure is to span Spuyten Duyvil Creek at its con- 
fluence with the Hudson River and is to connect the Boulevard 
Lafayette with the beautiful Spuyten Duyvil Parkway. The bridge 
was to have been constructed by 1909, the three hundredth anni- 
versary of Hudson's explorations, but the plans did not meet with 
the approval of the Municipal Art Commission. 

Hudson ascended the river to Albany, holding communication 
with the Indians along the way, and so kind and friendly was their 
disposition toward him that he wrote of them as the "loving peo- 
ple." On September 2.3d, he began his return voyage, sailing 
thru the Highlands, and on October 1st he anchored the Half 



6 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Moon below the village of Sackhoes on the site of which Peekskill 
has been built. Here many of the Indians came aboard and mar- 
veled at the size of the huge ship. Among the visitors was a chief 
who persuaded Hudson to accompany him to his village. 

"I sailed to the shore in one of their canoes," Hudson after- 
wards wrote in describing his reception, "with an old man who 
was the chief of their tribe, which consisted of forty men and 
seventeen women. There I saw them in a house well constructed 
of oak bark, cylindrical in shape, with an arched roof, and it had 
the appearance of being well built. It contained a great quantity 
of maize and beans of last year's growth, while near the house 
there lay, for the purpose of drying, enough to load three ships, 
besides what was growing in the fields. On our coming into the 
house, two mats were spread out for us to sit upon, and imme- 
diately some food was served in well carved red wooden bowls; 
two men were also at once dispatched with bows and arrows in 
quest of game, and they soon returned with a pair of pigeons which 
they had killed. They likewise killed a fat dog which they hastily 
skinned with shells they had got out of the water." Hudson failed 
to state how he relished the dog. 

When Hudson, on October 2d, passed the scene of his first 
anchorage, he was amazed to see a large fleet of canoes, swarmed 
with red-skinned warriors, put out from Shorackkappock, now 
named Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and boldly advancing toward the 
Half Moon evidently intent upon avenging the attempted kid- 
napping of their tribesmen and the breaking of faith with them. 
When they came within bow shot they showered a volley of arrows. 
This was the signal for hostilities to begin. The leader of the 
Half Moon quickly gave the order to fire. Bullets belched forth 
from the vessel's side, killing a number of warriors and wounding 
many more. The Indians, astounded at the havoc wrought by 
the white man's weapons, became demoralized, and leaping into 
the water, swam frantically for shore. Clear of all danger, the 
Half Moon now re-entered New York Bay. 

But the Indians would not be so easily subdued. With re- 
newed courage, and reinforced by several hundred, they gathered 
at what is now known as Fort Washington Point and again at- 
tacked the vessel as she was floating down the stream. A few 
musket shots soon put them to flight with the loss of nine of their 
warriors. 



EARLY HISTORY 7 

There has been much discussion as to the origin of the name 
of Spuyten Duyvil. It is one of those historical mysteries for 
whose solution so many delightful theories have been advanced and 
there is no likelihood of its ever being satisfactorily explained. 

We learn from various deeds and documents of the Seven- 
teenth Century that the Indian name for Spuyten Duyvil Creek 
was Paparinemo. The earliest reference to Spuyten Duyvil 
under that name is found in a remonstrance by Adrien Van Der 
Donck, grantee of Yonkers, which was presented to the directors 
of the West India Company, on May 26, 1653. In this remon- 




From an Old rainting 



Lydig House, Bronx Park 



strance he recites that his grant included, besides the Yonkers 
valley, a convenient valley nearby bordering on the hill behind 
the Island of Manhattan at Paparinemo, called by the people 
"Speijt den Duyvel." Riker quotes an old record, dated 1672, 
which refers to "Spuyten Duyvil, alias the Fresh Spring." "Spit- 
ting Devil," "Spouting Devil," "Spiking Devil," "Spikendevil," 
are a few of the ways in which the name occurs on ancient maps 
and in old documents. 

Many will no doubt recall Washington Irving's legend on the 
origin of Spuyten Duyvil — how trumpter Anthony Van Corlaer 
arrived at the creek one stormy day to summon the Dutch farmers 



8 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

of the mainland to the defence of New Amsterdam, and found no 
ferryman daring enough to venture across. "The wind was blowing 
a perfect hurricane, which sent the waters swirling like a mael- 
strom. For a short time Anthony vapored like an impatient ghost 
upon the brink, and then bethinking himself of the urgency of his 
errand, took a hearty embrace of his stone bottle, swore most 
valorously that he would swim across 'in spite of the devil' {en 
spijt den Duyvel), and daringly plunged into the stream. Luck- 
less Anthony ! Scarce had he been buffeted half way across the 
stream, when he was observed to struggle violently as if battling 
with the spirit of the waters — instinctively he put his trumpet to 
his mouth, and giving a vehement blast, sank forever to the 
bottom." 

Altho this is entirely a work of the imagination, and has 
no basis in fact, it seems as good a solution of the mystery as any 
other offered. 

Four years after the English navigator sailed up the Hudson, 
one Adrien Block, while cruising up the Long Island Sound in 
the first ship ever built by white men on Manhattan Island, landed 
somewhere along the eastern shore of The Bronx, — very likely on 
the island which bears his name. Shortly after Hudson returned to 
Holland with the Half Moon, a company of merchants in Amster- 
dam sent out five vessels loaded with goods to be traded with the 
Indians in America for furs. Among the skippers of this fleet 
was Adrien Block, commanding a ship called the Tiger. The other 
ships having gone to various parts of the new continent. Block, 
who had visited Manhattan Island in 1610 or 1611, decided that 
the lower end of the island wa.s a good place to land and trade. 

Some time during the latter part of 1613 the Tiger caught 
fire, and was completely destroyed. In order to continue their 
trading and exploration of the surrounding country, the Captain 
and crew immediately started to build a new vessel. It may have 
been that the necessary rigging and iron work for this new vessel 
had been saved from the Tiger, for the work progressed so rapidly 
that she was finished and launched early in the following spring. 
The ship was called the Onrust ("Restless"), and was built 
on the site of what is now Fraunce's Tavern. Not only was this 
the first sailing vessel built on Manhattan Island, but it was the 
third one constructed by white men on the American continent. 
The first had been built a little more than one hundred years be- 



EARLY HISTORY 9 

fore by Spaniards in California, and the second, in 1608, by a party 
of Englishmen on the Kennebec River. But nothing ever developed 
from Block's visit to The Bronx. 

The honor of being the first white settler to locate in The 
Bronx belongs to Jonas Bronck, who came from Hoorn, Holland, 
in July, 1639, with his friend Jochem Pietersen Kuyter, a Danish 
capitalist. 

The arrival of their ship, Dc Brant von Trogen ("The Fire 
of Troy"), which they had chartered together at Amsterdam was 
hailed by the colony as a great public good, and coming well rec- 
ommended from the Fatherland, they experienced little difficulty 
in obtaining land upon which to settle. 

Kuyter settled on the Manhattan side of the Harlem River 
upon a tract of nearly four hundred acres of fine farming land 
of which he had obtained a grant from the East India Company. 
The farm stretched along the Harlem River and ran south to West 
One Hundred Twenty-seventh Street. 

Bronck, however, crossed the Harlem River and settled in 
what is known today as "Old Morrisania." Here he erected a stone 
dwelling, a barn, several tobacco houses and two barracks for his 
servants and farm hands, whom he had brought over with his 
own family. Among these were Pieter Andriessen and Laurens 
Duyts, fellow passengers to whom Bronck had advanced one hun- 
dred and twenty-one florins to pay their board upon the ship and 
who had been hired by Bronck to help clear the five hundred-acre 
tract which he had purchased from the Indian sachems Ranachqua 
and Tackamuck. This tract, according to old records, lay between 
the Great Kill (Harlem River) and the Aquahung (Bronx River). 
In return for their labor Andriessen and Duyts were to have the 
privilege of planting tobacco and maize upon Bronck's land, bu 
only on condition that they would break up a certain quantity of 
new land every two years for the planting of grain, and then the 
spot which they had cultivated was to be returned to Bronck. In 
this way the land was cultivated free of cost to the owner. 

Bronck called his home Emrtiaus. It was situated near the 
present Harlem River station of the New York, New Haven and 
Hartford Railroad at One Hundred and Thirty-second Street. An 
adjacent river (the Aquahung) became known as Bronck's (later 
shortened to Bronx) River, and in recent times the name was ap- 
plied to the whole Borough. 



10 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

That Bronck was well pleased with the purchase of his prop- 
erty is shown by a letter he penned to Pieter Van Alst, a relative 
in the Old World, in which he speaks about his land in the most 
glowing terms. "The invisible hand of the Almighty P'ather," 
he writes, "surely guided me to this beautiful country, a land 
covered with virgin forest and unlimited opportunities. It is a 
veritable paradise and needs but the industrious hand of man to 
make it the finest and most beautiful region in all the world." 
Could Bronck rise out of his grave today he would see how well 
his prophecy has been fulfilled. 

Bronck was evidently a man of culture and refinement. His 
scholarly ability was displayed in the treaty of peace which he 
drafted and which was signed in his house on March 28, 1642, by 
the Dutch and by the Weckquaesgeek chiefs. This compact was 
faithfully adhered to until his death in 1643. Bronck left a widow 
and one son, Pieter Jonassen Bronck. The widow, Antonia Slag- 
boom, married Arendt Van Corlear, Sheriff of Rensellaerswyck, 
who sold Bronck's estate to Jacob Jans StoU, and removed with 
him to Albany, on the "Flatts." After Van Corlear's death his 
widow lived in Schenectady. 

Frank C. Bronck, of Amsterdam, N. Y., has in his possession 
a copy of the inventory of Bronck's personal effects taken in May, 
1643, and several other papers. R. Bronck Fish, an attorney in 
Fulton ville, N. Y., owns a silver cup which belonged to Jonas 
Bronck. 

There has been much discussion as to the genealogical origin 
of Jonas Bronck. Many historians adhere to the belief that he 
was Dutch, of Swedish extraction, probably from the fact that he 
came to this country under the protection of the Dutch flag. 

The "Magazine of American History," January, 1908, tells us 
that Jonas Bronck "was one of those worthy but unfortunate Men- 
nonites who were driven from their homes in Holland to Denmark 
by religious persecution. He . . . gained rapid promotion in 
the army of the King of Denmark, who was very tolerant towards 
the sect known as Mennonites. He served as commander in the 
East Indies until 1638, when, with others of the persecuted he set 
sail for America, and his name first appears on the records the fol- 
lowing year, when he received a large grant of land in Westchester 
County from the Sachems of Ranachqua." 

In the "Bronx Borough Record," December 20, 1902, Wm. R. 



EARLY HISTORY 11 

Bronk, of the seventh generation of that family, writes : "Of his 
[Jonas Bronck's] history prior to 1638 little is definitely known. 
It has been asserted that he was of Swedish or Danish ancestry, 
but there is little or no direct proof of this. . . . The name 
Bronck is a well-known Dutch name, and the probabilities all point 
in the direction of Bronck's having been of Holland descent." 

Riker in his History of Haarlem says that "Bronck was of 
a family long distinguished in Sweden though he himself was 
probably from Copenhagen where some of his family lived." The 
writer is inclined to the opinion that Bronck comes of Danish stock, 
because of his intimate association with Kuyter and other Danes, 
and the fact that the majority of the books in his library were 
Danish. 

The Rev. R. Anderson, pastor of the Danish Church of Our 
Saviour, in Brooklyn, who has devoted much time to tracing the 
genealogical tree of Jonas Bronck, is of the opinion that he was a 
Dane and gives some plausible reasons for forming this belief. 
"After the Reformation," says Mr. Anderson, "we find in 
Denmark several priests of the name of Bronck. The name is 
written Bronck, Brynck, Brunck, and sometimes Bronckel; but 
Brunck is most common in Danish." 




CHAPTER II 

MORRISANIA 

Colonial and Revolutionary Days — Story of the Public-Spirited and Patriotic 
Morris Family — Lewis Morris, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
Who Backed up His Signature by Joining the Army with His Three 
Sons — Gouverneur Morris, Statesman and Diplomat — Land Marks in 
Morrisania — Foundation of Village in 1848. 

FOR a quarter of a century the tract of land upon 
which Jonas Bronck had settled was owned at 
different times by several of the Dutch pioneers 
and traders. In 1668 it came into the possession 
of Samuel Edsall, a beaver maker of New Amster- 
dam. He held it for two years, then sold it on 
August 10, 1670, to Colonel Lewis Morris and 
Ewis ORRIS Captain Richard Morris, both officers in Crom- 
well's army, who found refuge in Barbados upon the restoration 
of Charles II. The Morrises were of Welch descent, and their 
patronym was derived from Maur Rys, or Rys the Great, which title 
was conferred upon Rys, the companion of Strongbow, for valiant 
service rendered in the latter's expedition against Ireland. 

Lewis went to the West Indies, where he purchased a large 
estate and became prominent in the political affairs of Barbados. 
He was later joined by his younger brother, Richard, who married 
there a wealthy lady named Sarah Pole, from whom he received 
large sugar plantations. 

Both brothers agreed to invest in land in New York, and in 
1668 Richard and his wife removed to the Dutch Colony, where the 
Captain purchased Broncksland from Samuel Edsall. 

Captain Richard Morris and his wife both died in 1672, 
leaving behind them an infant son named Lewis. His 
uncle, Colonel Lewis Morris, then came from Barbados to New 
York in 1673, and held the estate in trust for the child. He re- 
sided in Morrisania, but he purchased some thirty-five hundred 
acres of land in Monmouth County, New Jersey, upon which he 

12 



MORRISANIA 13 

located iron mills. When the Dutch in 1673 were again masters 
of New York, Colonel Lewis Morris was forced to surrender his 
share of the Morrisania property to the victorious Hollanders on 
the ground that he was an inhabitant of Barbados ; but, upon 
the recapture of New Amsterdam by the English in 1765, it was 
restored to its rightful owner. 

In 1676, Governor Andros granted to Colonel Morris a royal 
patent to Broncksland and adjacent meadows to the extent of 
about 1,920 acres, in consideration of which the Colonel was 
required to pay to James the Duke of York an annuity of five 
bushels of wheat. A deed confirming the grant was subsequently 
presented to Colonel Lewis Morris by Shahash and five other Indian 
sachems. 

Upon the death of Colonel Morris in 1691, the property was 
inherited by Lewis Morris, his nephew, who by a royal patent 
issued on May 8, 1697, by Governor Fletcher in the name of Wil- 
liam III, became the first lord of the manor of Morrisania. 

Colonel Lewis Morris was a Quaker and he could not tolerate 
what he termed his nephew's "many and great miscarryages" 
toward him and his wife. He accused his nephew of "adhering 
and advising with those of bad life and conversation." He con- 
sequently made his "dearly beloved wife, Mary Morris," sole ex- 
ecutrix of his last will and testament. But as the Colonel left 
no issue, and as his wife died before him, the estate devolved 
upon the disinherited nephew, Lewis Morris, Senior. 

Like most youngsters, past and present, who in their early 
youth give promise of becoming the most wicked of men, but dur- 
ing their maturity turn out to be virtuous and upright, Lewis 
Morris became a model man. He achieved the distinction of being 
the first governor of New Jersey and the first native-born Chief 
Justice of New York. 

Chief Justice Morris upheld the rights of the people and 
became the foe of tyrannical royal officials. In 1733 he rendered 
a decision adverse to the interests of Governor Cosby. The 
Governor accused the Chief Justice of having treated him "with 
slight, rudeness, and impertinence." 

Whereupon Morris replied : 

"If judges are to be intimidated so a.s not to dare to give any opinion 
but what is pleasing to a governor, and agreeable to his private views, the 
people of this province — who are very much concerned both with respect to 



14 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

their lives and fortunes in the freedom and independency of those who are 
to judge them — may possibly not think themselves so secure in either of them 
as the laws and his Majesty intend they should be. . . . As to my in- 
tegrity, I have given you no occasion to call it in question. I have been in thia 
office about twenty years. My hands were never soiled by a bribe; nor am I con- 
scious to myself, that power or poverty hath been able to induce me to be par- 
tial in the favor of either of them; and as I have no reason to expect any 
favor of you, so I am neither afraid nor ashamed to stand the test of the 
strictest inquiry you can make concerning my conduct. I have served the 
public faithfully, according to the best of my knowledge; and I dare, and do, 
appeal to it for my justification." 

For this act of "impertinence," however, he was dismissed 
from the bench by Governor Cosby, and was replaced by the aris- 
tocratic royalist, James De Lancey. Morris then ran for repre- 
sentative in the Assembly in opposition to William Forster, who 
was supported by the Governor. Despite Cosby's unfair tactics 
of depriving the Quakers of their vote, Morris was elected by a 
majority of eighty, thus indicating that the people were on his side. 

When Lewis Morris, Second, called Senior, died in 1746 at 
the age of seventy-three, the estate was divided into two portions, 
the Mill Brook having served as the dividing line. The section 
east of the Mill Brook was given over to his son, Lewis, Third, 
called Junior; while the remainder of the manor was bequeathed 
to his wife, Isabella Graham. Upon the death of the latter, Lewis 
Morris, Junior, who served as a judge in several courts, and as 
representative of Westchester County in the New York Legisla- 
ture, came into possession of the entire estate. 

Judge Lewis Morris had three sons by his first wife, Elizabeth 
Staats: namely, Lewis, called the Signer; Staats Long, a general 
in the British army, and the Honorable Richard Morris; and by 
his second wife, Sarah Gouverneur, he had one son, the Honorable 
Gouverneur Morris, and four daughters. 

Upon the death of Judge Lewis Morris, Junior, in 1762, the 
estate was again divided into two portions. The section west of 
the Mill Brook was bequeathed to Lewis Morris, who was later 
a signer of that great human document — the Declaration of In- 
dependence, — and the easterly portion descended to Staats Long 
Morris, afterwards a Lieutenant General in the British army 
and a Governor of Quebec. Upon the removal of Staats Long 
Morris to Canada, his portion of the patrimony was purchased in 
1786 by the Honorable Gouverneur Morris, the distinguished 



MORRISANIA 15 

patriot and statesman, the half-brother of Staats Long and Lewis 
Morris. 

General Lewis Morris, the last manor-loi'd of Morrisania, 
was born at Old Morrisania in 1726. He was graduated from 
Yale College in 1746. During the period prior to the Revolution 
much of his time was passed in the pursuit of agriculture on his 
estate at Morrisania, where he surrounded himself with the ele- 
gance and luxury of the period. At the beginning of the Revolu- 
tion he espoused the Whig cause and early in the war was made a 
Brigadier-General in the Continental army. In 1775 he was 
elected a member of the Continental Congress from New York, 
and was sent to Pittsburgh to secure the allegiance of the Indians 
to the cause of the colonists. He was in attendance at the meeting 
of the Colonial Congress of the Province of New York at White 
Plains, July 9, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was 
ratified by that body. Thruout Washington's Westchester 
County campaign, and at the battle of White Plains (October 28, 
1776) he was in active service. He also took an important part 
in the succeeding winter campaign in New Jersey, being present 
at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. His three eldest sons were 
enlisted in the American army at the same time. 

General Morris died in 1798. The manor-house of Lewis 
Morris, known as "Christ's Hotel," stood west of Brook Avenue 
near the Mill Brook, until it was torn down two decades ago by 
the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which had 
acquired the property. 

Gouverneur Morris, the most illustrious of the Morris family, 
was born at Morrisania, January 31, 1752. In accordance with the 
wish of Lewis Morris, Junior, as expressed in his will, dated No- 
vember 19, 1760, namely, that "his son Gouverneur Morris may 
have the best education that is to be had in England or America," 
Gouverneur was sent to King's College (now Columbia) from 
which he was graduated in 1768, at the age of sixteen. His ora- 
tion on Commencertient Day won great applause and a silver 
medal. 

In 1775 he was a delegate to the Provincial Congress of New 
York, and on July 8th of that year a member of the Committee 
of Public Safety of Westchester County. He was one of the com- 
mittee appointed to draft the Constitution of the State of New 
York, which was adopted in 1777. 



16 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



He was but twenty-seven years of age when he was appointed 
by Congress as one of a committee of five to assist General Wash- 
ington in the reoi-ganization of the army. The committee spent 
three months with the Commander-in-Chief at Valley Forge, and 
as a result many reforms were instituted. It was shortly after 
this, in May, 1780, that he was thrown from his carriage, and 
his left leg so badly maimed that it had to be amputated. He was 




GOUVERNEUR MoRRIS MANSION 



a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which framed 
the Constitution of the United States, and to him was assigned the 
literary revision of that masterful instrument. During the French 
hostilities he was American Minister to France, and he remained 
in Paris during the whole period of the Reign of Terror. 

In 1799 he was chosen Senator from New York and served 
until 1803. He was closely associated with Governor George 
Clinton in the building of the Erie Canal, and was an intimate 



MORRISANIA 



17 



friend of General Alexander Hamilton. Gouverneur Morris was 
with the great statesman during his last moments, and he delivered 
his funeral oration. In 1809, at the age of fifty-seven, he married 
Anne Gary Randolph, a sister of .John Randolph of Roanoke, and 
a lineal descendant of Pocahontas. The Gouverneur Morris man- 
sion, built from the design of a French chatfau, stood nearly 
opposite Hell Gate, and east of what is now St. Ann's Avenue. 
It was here that he entertained Washington and numerous French 




Wm. H. Morris Mansion 



notables, including Louis Philippe, afterward King of the French. 
Here, too, Lafayette was entertained in 1824 by his son, Gouvern- 
eur Morris, .Junior. Until this historic manor-house was razed a 
few years ago to make room for the terminal of the New York, New 
Haven and Hartford Railroad, its wide stairway bore marks that 
were said to have been made by Gouverneur Morris's wooden leg 
as he hobbled to bed. 

Below One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Street, west of Third 
Avenue, stands the old stone Gate House. This is the oldest 



18 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



building in Morrisania and the only one that antidates the forma- 
tion of the village of Morrisania in 1848. 

The Wm. H. Morris mansion at One Hundred and Sixty-fifth 
Street. Findlay and Teller Avenues, was built in 1816, and was 
recently purchased by the Daughters of Jacob; it is to be re- 
modeled for a synagog. 

Just west of the old mansion stands a quaint stone structure 




Outhouse, Morris Farm 



dating from 1792. It was pi'obably an outhouse of the old farm. 
Upon the death of Gouverneur Morris in 1816, and of his 
wife in 1837, the property east of Mill Brook passed into the hands 
of their son, Gouverneur Morris, Esq., the pioneer railroad builder. 
In memory of his mother, Anne Gary Randolph, he erected in the 
year 1841, at St. Ann's Avenue and East One Hundred and Fortieth 
Street, a church known since as St. Ann's Episcopal Church. In 
the vaults beneath the old church and adjacent thereto, lie interred 
the remains of the members of this illustrious family whose mag- 



MORRISANIA 19 

nanimous patriotic services for our country have caused their 
names to be placed high on the American Roll of Honor. 

On a tablet in the recess chancel is inscribed the following : 

"The Relics of the Honorable Gouverneur Morris, A name illustrious 
in his country's annals, were laid by his faithful widow." 

A tablet on the right side of the chancel bears the following 
inscription : 

Gouverneur Morris, 

born February 9, 1813, 

died August 20, 1888, 

Founder of this Parish, 
To which he gave church and lands for the 
glory of God and in memory of his mother. 

Morrisania was the scene of many a skirmish during the 
Revolutionary War. General William Heath, who was in command 
of a picket stationed in that section, relates in his Memoirs an 
interesting incident that occurred there. A chain of sentinels 
had been planted near Bronx Kills, the water passage between 
Morrisania and Montresor's (now Randall's) Island. The sen- 
tinels on the American side had been ordered not to fire at the sen- 
tinels on the British side unless the latter began ; but the latter 
were so fond of beginning that shots were frequently exchanged. 
During an interchange of shots a British officer was wounded. 
An officer with a flag soon came down the creek and informed the 
Americans that if their sentinels fired any more the commanding 
officer of the island would cannonade Colonel Morris's house, in 
which the officers of the picket were quartered. General Heath 
sent back the reply that "the American sentinels were instructed 
not to fire unless they were fired on ; that such was their conduct, 
and as to cannonading Colonel Morris's house, they could act their 
pleasure." 

For a time all firing ceased until a raw Scotch sentinel was 
planted who soon discharged his musket at an American sentinel. 
The shots were instantly returned ; whereupon a British officer 
called to the American officers observing that he thought there 
was to be no more firing between the sentinels. When informed 
that the offender was on his side, he immediately apologized and 
relieved the Scotchman. Thereafter both sides were so civil that 
when a British sentinel sent over to the Americans for a chew of 



20 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

tobacco, he got a thick quid, and, after taking his bite, he sent the 
remainder back. 

The little semi-circular redoubt still stands in the southeast 
corner of Woodlawn Cemetery, and is pointed out as having been 
erected under the personal direction of General Heath. Its guns 
once commanded the crossing over the Bronx River at Williams's 
Bridge where the original Boston Post Road, laid out in 1672, 
wound up from King's Bridge and extended on thru Eastchester 
and New Rochelle, and so on to Boston. 

Major Henly, a promising young officer of General Heath's 
staff, lost his life in an attack on the British garrison on Mont- 
resor's Island, September 24, 1776. Colonel Jackson, the com- 
mander of the party, led the way in his boat, under cover of dark- 
ness, not heeding the firing of the pickets. The officers and their 
men jumped ashore and rushed upon the camp; but, overpowered 
by superior numbers, they were obliged to retreat to their boats. 
The Americans lost twenty-two men, including Major Henly. The 
attack failed because the officers of the remaining boats did not 
follow the boat of their commander. For this cowardice, they 
were afterwards court-martialled and cashiered. 

Pending its decision during the session of 1790 as to the loca- 
tion of a permanent seat of government. Congress received a 
petition headed by the signature of Gouverneur Morris, which 
strongly urged the selection of Morrisania as the national capital. 
Many excellent reasons were submitted for the adoption of this 
site — the well-drained condition of the land, and consequent free- 
dom from swamps; and the proximity to so great an industrial 
and political center as New York. But the proposal at once aroused 
all the political prejudices and petty jealousies of various sections 
of the country. In order to quiet this feeling and restoi'e har- 
mony thruout the land, Philadelphia was picked as a compro- 
mise, since it was thought that the selection of this site would 
cause least friction. 

Various efforts were made to induce people to settle in The 
Bronx. In 1841, Jordan L. Mott, a pioneer from Manhattan, 
bought a small tract of land, bounded by Third Avenue, One 
Hundred and Thirty-fourth Street and the Harlem River. Here 
he erected a foundry and built an attractive residence. He then 
extended his possessions and encouraged others to settle there. 
He called the section owned bv him Mott Haven, and the canal 



MORRISANIA 21 

extending from the Harlem River to One Hundred and Thirty- 
eighth Street, commenced by him in 1850, the Mott Haven Canal. 

It was not until 1848, however, that any concerted effort was 
made to colonize The Bronx. A number of citizens, chiefly me- 
chanics and laborers, had met at various times to discuss the 
advisability of building homes of their own on land within com- 
muting distance of the city and possessing at the same time the 
advantages offered by the country. It was also figured that 
the children would derive incalculable benefit from the pure air 
and the quiet healthful environment so woefully lacking in the 
city. 

Tho the project met with ridicule from the skeptical and 
timid, the enthusiasm of the leaders of the movement did not 
wane. Following the third meeting, a committee of three, consist- 
ing of Jordan L. Mott, Charles W. Haughton, and Nicholas Mc- 
Graw, was selected to act merely as purchasing agents of the 
would-be settlers. 

After a long search, it was found that the Gouverneur Morris 
property, embracing two hundred acres of well-drained land, was 
the most suitable for their purpose. The purchase price was 
$37,622 — or about $173 an acre. When the avenues and streets 
were laid out, there were 167 acres for development. 

Within two years the land was clear of debt and its name was 
changed from New Village to Morrisania, in honor of its former 
landlord. The total population of this village in 1850 was 961 
persons in 149 dwellings. Between 1856 and 1868 no less than 
eighteen distinct communities, including Mott Haven, Port Morris, 
East and West Morrisania, Eltona, Woodstock, Bensonia, High- 
bridgeville, Claremont, Belmont, Grovehill, and Melrose grew up 
around Morrisania, and were incorporated with it into one 
village. 

One of the curiosities of Morrisania was the "Huckleberry 
Road" with its bob-tail cars. Old residents never tire of relating 
some of the peculiar experiences they went thru when this 
ancient horse-car line was in operation. It is said that whenever 
the driver hit up the horses to urge them on to greater speed, the 
car would jump the track; whereupon the conductor would request 
the gentlemen to alight and help lift the car back upon the tracks. 
The stoppages were so frequent that the passengers found ample 
time to pick huckleberries along the road. 



22 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Prior to the advent of horse cars, a stage coach would carry 
passengers to the Harlem Bridge, where they could continue down- 
town by means of either the Third Avenue horse cars or the 
steamboat. 

Today the brilliantly lighted cars of the Union Railroad Com- 
pany, whose splendid trolley system may well stand as a model 
for other and less enterprising communities, has been one of the 
chief factors in the upbuilding of The Bronx. 




CHAPTER III 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRONX 

What Organized and Intelligent Effort has Accomplislied — The Rush of 
Capital and Steady Flow of Population. 

jRIOR to its annexation to New York City in 1874, the 

section which then comprised The Bronx lying west 

of the Bronx River, covered an area of but 12,317 acres 

and consisted of fifty-two sparsely settled villages and 

hamlets with an approximate population of 33,000. In 

1895, the territory east of the Bronx River, comprising 14,500 acres 

was annexed to the Borough, making a total of 26,817 acres in all, 

or 42 square miles of territory. 

Since the Borough's annexation to New York City in 1874, 
when it became familiarly known as the "North Side," its growth 
has been marvelous. From a population of 33,000 it grew to 430,- 
980 in 1910, as shown by the latest census. This is an increase of 
more than 1,300 per cent in thirty-six years — a record probably 
never equalled in the history of the world. 

Since the Federal census was taken in 1910 the Health De- 
partment estimated that the population of The Bronx by the middle 
of this year (1913) would be 583,981. If the same increase con- 
tinues for the next seven years — and it is safe to say it will — The 
Bronx should have by 1920 a population of at least a million. 

The following table, based on the Federal census of 1910, has 
been compiled by a well-known statistician. It shows the estimated 
population of The Bronx up to and including the year 1920. 

Year Bronx 

1910 430,980 

1911 483,000 

1912 531,000 

1913 590,000 

1914 640,000 

1915 690,000 

1916 740,000 

1917 790,000 

23 



24 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

1918 840,000 

1919 890,000 

1920 950,000 

In compiling these figures, a thoro study of the conditions 
likely to be aff'ected by the new rapid transit routes was carefully 
considered. While it is generally conceded that railroads, more 
than any other combination of forces, are responsible for the civil- 
ization and growth of a country, experience has proved that its 
success is not always assured unless it has the encouragement and 
aid of an efficient and wide-awake administration. And in this 
respect The Bronx has been most fortunate; for there can be no 
question that the rapid development and present prosperity of 
the Borough is the direct consequence of former Borough President 
Haffen's able and efficient administration and wisely directed 
efforts, as well as of the present Borough President, Cyrus C. 
Miller's intelligent management of local affairs. 

The North Side Board of Trade and the Taxpayers' Alliance 
of the Borough of The Bronx, the latter having thirty-seven local 
associations affiliated with it, have both taken a lively interest in 
the welfare of the Borough, and thru their united efforts many 
public improvements have been pushed to a successful issue. 

The North Side Board of Trade was organized March 6, 1894. 
At the time of its formation the population of The Bronx was 
about 90,000, but its influence was soon manifested and it has 
since been an important factor in the commercial development of 
The Bronx. With the consolidation in the Greater City, its growth 
has been steady and continuous, and today, it is one of the most 
influential bodies in the upper section of Greater New York. Its 
membership numbers more than five hundred men who represent 
the very heart of the business life of the great North Side. The 
Board has helped to obtain many public improvements for the 
people of this Borough; nothing escapes their vigilance where 
the public welfare is concerned. On October 28, 1911, the corner- 
stone of the new North Side Board of Trade building, situated 
at Third and Lincoln Avenues and East One Hundred and Thirty- 
seventh Street, was laid by the late Mayor Gaynor. This is the 
most magnificent building in the Borough. The officers are: 

William W. Niles, President. 

Charles W. Bogart, Treasurer. 

Charles E. Reid, Secretary. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRONX 25 

Vice Presidents: Ernest Hall, Joseph A. Goulden, Adolph G. 
Hupfel, John J. Amory, Charles W. Bogart, John Claflin, Henry 
Lewis Morris, Louis F. Haffen, Charles A. Berrian, J. Homer 
Hildreth. 

Board of Directors: Edward B. Boynton, Thomas J. Quinn, 
J. Clarence Davies, John De Hart, Herbert A. Knox, Charles E. 
Reid, Dr. William A. Boyd, Michael J. Sullivan, Richard W. Law- 
rence, Louis F. Haffen, Matthew Anderson, Israel C. Jones, Fred 
W. Hottenroth, Louis F. Kuntz, Martin Walter, J. Harris Jones, 
Douglas Mathewson, Thomas J. Higgins, Arthur Knox, Cornelius 
J. Earley, John F. Steeves, Olin J. Stephens, James L. Wells, Ernest 
Hall, Charles W. Bogart, Joseph A. Goulden, William W. Niles, 
J. Homer Hildreth, William S. Germain, Theodore Trimmer. 

The Taxpayers' Alliance was founded in 1894, shortly after 
the establishment of local self-government in The Bronx, and owes 
its formation to the Twenty-third Ward Property Owners' Asso- 
ciation, now known as the "Bronx County Property Owners'. 
Association." This worthy body believed that by cooperating with 
other local improvement associations, and by uniting, it would 
accomplish more good for the uplifting of The Bronx than by 
working independently. Thru the earnest efforts of Colonel 
Goulden, a meeting was arranged at the Fordham Club, on the 
evening of December 15, 1894, to which representatives from all 
the other local associations were invited. The consolidation plan 
met with instant favor, and as a result the Taxpayers' Alliance 
of the Borough of The Bronx was launched, with Colonel Goulden 
as its fir.st president. 

The six original associations forming this alliance were: 

The Twenty-third Ward Property Owners' Association. 

The Fordham Club. 

West Farms Local Improvement Association. 

Kingsbridge Property Owners' Association. 

Property Owners' Association Vyse Estate and vicinity. 

The Fox Estate Property Owners' Association. 
The combined membership of these six organizations num- 
bered about 600. Today the Alliance has thirty-seven local asso- 
ciations affiliated with it, and a membership of more than 8,000. 
The list of the associations is made up as follows : 

Twenty-third Ward Taxpayers' Association. 

Fordham Club. 



26 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Belmont Association. 

Unionport Association. 

West Morrisania Club. 

West Farms Association. 

Woodlawn Association. 

Westchester Association. 

Bedford Park Association. 

City Island Association. 

Van Nest Association. 

Westchester Impi-ovement Company. 

Borough Club. 

Casanova Association. 

Springhurst Association. 

Fordham As.sociation. 

Morris Heights Association. 

Tremont Association. 

Williamsbridge Improvement Association. 

Wakefield Association. 

Vyse Estate Association. 

Mapes Estate Association. 

East Morrisania Property Owners' Association. 

East Tremont Taxpayers' Association. j 

Kingsbridge Association. ' 

Throgg's Neck Association. 

Protective Association, Mapes Estate. 

Riverside Association. 

Spuyten Duyvil Association. t 

Fox Estate and Vicinity Association. 

Claremont Heights Property Owners' Association. 

City Island Board of Trade. 

Highbridge Taxpayers' Association. 

Tax and Rentpayers' Alliance of Wakefield. 

Mosholu Parkway North Association. 

Van Cortlandt Association. 
The officers of the Taxpayers' Alliance are: 
President, George M. S. Schulz. 

Vice Presidents: Harry Robitzek, -James B. Powers, William 
W. Niles, A. C. Hottenroth, Charles W. Bogart, Louis F. Haffen. 
Col. Jos. A. Goulden, William S. Germain, Max Just. 
Treasurer, Carl W. Schmidtke. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRONX 27 

Secretary, Philip J. McKinley. 

That the Taxpayers' Alliance has been of incalculable benefit 
to the citizens of The Bronx no one will deny. There has not 
been a public improvement in which the hand of the Alliance 
cannot be traced. From its very inception, the chief aim of the 
organization has been to further the general interest and promote 
the welfare of the Borough, and to attain the greatest good for the 
greatest number. 

The Association of the Bar of the County of Bronx, Inc., is 
the only lawyers' organization in the new county. It was incorpo- 
rated in 1902 as the Association of the Bar of the Borough of 
the Bronx in the City of New York, the name was changed in 
February, 1913. 

It was a committee of the Association that drafted the first 
proposed Bronx County Act back in 1904. Since then this body 
has steadily kept in the fighting line. When the present act became 
a law in 1912, a committee of seven was delegated for the inevitable 
legal struggle to maintain the constitutionality of the legislation. 
The Association, thru its committee, was the sole advocate of 
the entire act before the courts. When the decision went contrary, 
the question was speeded to the Court of Appeals. There the brief 
filed on behalf of the Association was largely embodied in the 
opinion that preserved Bronx County. 

The membership is 150 and increasing. Any lawyer in good 
standing, residing or practising in the City of New York, is eligible 
for membership. Admission fee and dues are moderate. Advan- 
tages offered are many, .including the use of a large law library 
in the comfortable headquarters at 1187 Washington Avenue. A 
regular meeting is held the second Friday evening of the month, 
at which there is discussion and action on matters of importance 
to the profession and the county. Prominent men frequently at- 
tend and deliver addresses. Active officials and committees keep 
the general spirit keyed high. 

The former presidents are W. Stebbins Smith, J. Homer Hil- 
dreth, Arthur C. Butts, Douglas Mathewson, and Charles P. Hallock. 

The officers are : 

President: Louis 0. Van Doren. 

Vice Presidents: Mauri?e S. Cohen and John Davis. 

Secretary: J. Philip Van Kirk. 

Treasurer: Arthur L. Howe. 



28 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Chairman of Executive Committee : Henry K. Davis. 

Looking back a quarter of a century, and comparing conditions 
then v\'ith those of today, we cannot help but marvel at the re- 
markable growth of the Borough in commerce, population and 
achievement during that short period. From what was formerly 
a slow, slumbering unprogressive community, there has sprung 




Home Street, Looking East from Union Avenue in 1S83 



up a great, vigorous and flourishing cosmopolitan community, 
which today, if it were a separate and distinct city, would rank in 
population as the seventh city in the United States, and the third 
in the State of New York. 

What may be heralded as the birth of the new Bronx began 
in 1895, when the maps of the streets and highways west of the 
Bronx River were completed. The Bronx at that time contained 
about 100,000 inhabitants. In five years the population doubled. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRONX 29 

the census report of 1900 showing that there were 200,507 persons 
residing in the Borough. This gain, however enormous, but faintly 
foreshadowed what was to come, when, in the next decade — the 
period of 1900-1909 — was disclosed an increase of 230,473 in- 
habitants. Thus The Bronx had more than quadrupled its popula- 
tion in less than the number of years allotted to a generation. This 
period of 1900-1909 has been in every respect one of unparalleled 
progress and prosperity. It is a history crowned with auspicious 
events, such as the opening of the subway, building of tunnels, 
construction of bridges over the Harlem and other waterways, and 
City Borough undertakings of the first rank. The projected 
Broadway-Lexington Avenue Subway will undoubtedly cause the 
denizens of congested Manhattan to migrate to the more spacious 
and comfortable Bronx. 

In building. The Bronx has made greater progress than any 
other community in the country, except, perhaps, Seattle. In 
1911, this Borough was the third greatest building community in 
the United States, Manhattan ranking first and Chicago second. 

From 1881 to 1910, there have been $360,000,000 invested in 
Bronx building operations, and from 1881 to 1890, $27,000,000 
were expended ; $93,000,000 in the period from 1891 to 1900, and 
$240,000,000 from 1901 to 1910. The outlay for 1911 was $22,- 
837,060, and that of 1912, $36,049,870. 

While the building record last year was of unusual propor- 
tions, experts assert their belief that more buildings will be erected 
in The Bronx this coming year than ever before. From January 
1 to March 18, 1913, plans for 204 new buildings, at a cost of 
$5,624,416, and alterations on 392, at a cost of $244,467, have 
been filed. 

The assessed valuation of the taxable real estate in the Borough 
has also shown tremendous strides. In round numbers the figures 
are as follows: In 1880, $23,000,000; in 1890, $45,000,000; in 1900, 
$123,000,000; in 1910, $494,000,000; in 1911, $605,000,000; and 
in 1912, $616,486,898. 




CHAPTER IV 

A CITY WITHIN A CITY 

How the Child Grew up a Giant — The Past Speaks in Thunder Tones of the 
Prosperity Advancing Years Bring to the Home, the Merchant and the 
Manufacturer — What Rapid Transit Stands for in the Growth of a 
Metropolis. 

\RVELOUS as has been the growth of The Bronx in 
the last decade, it is very little compared to what 
the near future has in store, awaiting the comple- 
tion of new subways and rapid transit lines. With 
better transit facilities, territory in outlying sec- 
tions, heretofore inaccessible, will be at the disposal of 
men of moderate means who will build homes which may be 
easily reached from their places of business in the metropolis. 
New York City is daily becoming more congested and the overflow 
of population must inevitably find its way to nearby suburbs. It 
is only a question of a few years when the entire lower section of 
Manhattan will be devoted exclusively to business. 

That the Borough of The Bronx will draw the greater share 
of this influx, needs no prophet to foretell. The close proximity 
of The Bronx to Manhattan, and the many substantial bridges 
which span the Harlem River and practically extend the streets of 
Manhattan into The Bronx, give it decided advantages over the 
other boroughs. Moreover, it is admirably situated ; it covers an 
area double that of Manhattan; and it needs but the magic touch 
of better transportation facilities to make it the Empire City of the 
future. This is no idle boast, for The Bronx is on the brink of 
another evolution, and history is sure to repeat itself. Few 
dreamed thirty years ago that the region north of the Harlem 
River, known in the earlier days as the "Annexed District," would 
ever be the giant city it is today. And it will continue to exceed 
the expectations of even the flightiest prognosticators, as it is at 
present only at the beginning of its greatness. 

Men of capital and keen business foresight who have made 
a study of realty conditions say that there has never been a more 

30 



A CITY WITHIN A CITY 



31 



opportune time to buy real estate in The Bronx than the present ; 
particularly now that the routes of the new subway and rapid 
transit lines have been definitely settled. Ground has already been 
broken by the city for its Lexington Avenue route, which when 
completed, will tap a territory unequaled in beauty and in salutary 
and sanitary conditions. Nothing but the upheaval of the conti- 
nent or other remote catastrophe which no man can foresee can 
check the stupendous improvements planned for the next decade. 




Old Vvse Mansion 



Let us for a moment glance into the future and see what 
wonderful transformation is to take place in The Bronx during 
the intervening period. What a wonderful vision we behold ! 
Thruout the Borough, from the Harlem River on the south to 
the city line on the north, the Sound on the east, and the Hudson 
River on the west, we see a complete network of subways, elevated 
and surface roads, which spread out like the all-embracing arteries 
of the body. 

The countless acres of unimproved property which for years 



32 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

lay dormant in the outlying districts are mapped out into tree-lined 
streets and avenues. Thousands of cozy and attractive little homes, 
which rent at low figures, are now occupied by men of moderate 
means, whose wish it is to live in a quiet, select neighborhood 
where the children may enjoy the blessings of pure air, good schools 
and delightful parks and playgrounds. 

The forty miles of navigable water front are filled with pleas- 
ure and merchant craft of all tonnage — a great boon to both the 
manufacturer and the consumer, for they can receive and ship 
their products, either crude or manufactured, by either rail or 
water, with diminished cost of handling, and with increased profits 
to both. Electricity has banished smoke from the city and the 
great towers of the central town and college hall dazzle in the 
sunlight. There is a constant flutter in the air of the aeroplanes 
and airships carrying passengers and mail. All about us are 
bewildering changes. Industry and transportation have been revo- 
lutionized ; and progress, peace and contentment reign everywhere. 

Does not this vision of future development inspire enthusiasm, 
devotion and patriotism in the citizen of the Borough of The 
Bronx? 

That The Bronx has grown beyond all precedent, either in 
this State or elsewhere, during the sixteen years since its con- 
solidation, needs no further comment. Eleven years hence, it will 
rank with the sixteen world cities having a population of a million 
or over. 

Up to April 19, 1912, The Bronx was the only one of the five 
boroughs comprising the City of New York that was not a separate 
and distinct county. On that date an act was passed in the Legis- 
lature creating the County of Bronx, subject to a referendum to 
the voters of the Borough. The question "Shall the territory within 
the Borough of The Bronx be erected into the County of Bronx?" 
was accordingly submitted to the voters at the general election in 
November, 1912, and a majority of the votes cast were in favor of 
the creation of the county. 

The constitutionality of the act was questioned on the grounds 
that the Legislature had no power to submit the question to the 
voters, since New York State being a representative democracy, 
the people of the State act thru their representatives in the Leg- 
islature ; and secondly, that the question should have been sub- 
mitted to the voters of the entire County of New York, instead of 



A CITY WITHIN A CITY 33 

only to the voters of the Borough of The Bronx. The act was 
declared unconstitutional by the Appellate Divisions of the Su- 
preme Court of the State of New York, but the decision was re- 
versed, on March 21, 1913, by the Court of Appeals. 

In an administrative way, the creation of the County of Bronx 
means, that The Bronx will have its own courts; its own offices 
for recording deeds, mortgages, and other papers affecting real 
and personal property; its own offices where wills of its residents 
can be probated; its own Sheriff's and County Clerk's offices. 

The offices filled under the Bronx County Act at the last 
election were: County Judge, L. G. Gibbs, for a term of 
six years; Surrogate, G. M. Schulz, six years; District Attorney, 
Francis Martin, four years; Sheriff, J. F. O'Brien, four years; 
County clerk, J. V. Ganley, four years; and Register, Edward 
Polak, four years. The salary of each of these is $10,000. There 
will be a Commissioner of Jurors, at a salary of $5,000 a year, and 
a Public Administrator, at $4,000 a year. 

The construction of the New York, Westchester and Boston 
Railway, which penetrates the heart of the East Bronx, is the first 
step toward solving the local transit problem. By the opening 
of this four-track rapid transit line, 5,300 acres of practically 
undeveloped territory, lying north of Bronx Park and west of 
Pelhani Bay Park and east of Van Cortlandt, which had absolutely 
no railroad nor rapid transit facilities for passenger traffic, have 
been made available for residential and manufacturing purposes. 
The system begins at Lincoln Avenue, between One Hundred 
Thirty-second Street and tracks of the New York, New Haven and 
Hartford Railroad, where it connects with the Second and Third 
Avenue Elevated Railways. 

After leaving the Harlem River, the stations along the line 
are located at Port Morris, Casanova, Hunt's Point, Westchester 
Avenue, One Hundred Eightieth Street, Morris Park, Pelham 
Parkway, Gun Hill Road, Baychester Avenue and Dyre Avenue, 
which is the last station within the city limits and the end of the 
five-cent-fare zone. Mount Vernon has five stations. At Columbus 
Avenue Junction, a branch diverges from the main line, and pass- 
ing thru the easterly end of Mount Vernon, runs thru Wykogyl 
in the northern section of New Rochelle and thru the beautiful 
Quaker Ridge section to Scarsdale and White Plains, the latter be- 
ing the terminus of this part of the line. 



34 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

The main line passes thru North Pelham, New Rochelle, 
Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison and Rye to Port Chester. 

The New York, Westchester and Boston Railway is the most 
modern and up-to-date system in railroad construction. From its 
roadbed to its cars and stations, its architecture, workmanship and 
materials are of the best and highest standard. The entire line is 
equipped with all-steel motor passenger coaches, each having a 
seating capacity for seventy-eight persons. 

The new transfer station located at One Hundred Eightieth 
Street and Morris Park Avenue will connect with the West Farms 
Branch of the Interborough and will become the geographical 
center for the distribution of city and suburban traffic. Provision 
has also been made for the Pelham Bay section of the Lexington 
Avenue Subway to connect at the Westchester Avenue station, 
in The Bronx, thus affording an opportunity for the exchange of 
passenger traffic for all points. 

The station occupies a space approximately 550 feet in length 
and 250 feet in width. Both entrances and exits are on the street 
level, and the platforms for receiving and discharging passengers 
are elevated above the street, conveniently arranged to expedite 
the transfer from one system to another. 

The ground floor has been so designed that a space is reserved 
on each side of the entrance to the station from Morris Park Ave- 
nue, which can be converted into retail stores on the design of an 
arcade, should the development of the section in the vicinity of the 
station later warrant such an improvement. 

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company, upon the comple- 
tion of the Broadway and West Farms extensions of the subway, 
started the "Green Lines" of the new crosstown system for the 
purpose of carrying passengers to the subways, and transferring 
them to the trunk lines of the company, for a three-cent fare. 

On the extreme westerly side of the Borough is the Main Line 
and Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad. These 
lines accommodate residents of Highbridge, Morris Heights, Uni- 
versity Heights, Kingsbridge, Spuyten Duyvil, Riverdale, Mount 
Saint Vincent, Van Cortlandt and Mosholu. 

The northwestern section of the Borough is also tapped by 
the Broadway branch of the subway up to Van Cortlandt Park 
(Two Hundred Forty-second Street and Broadway), where the 
terminals of five trolley lines feed the branch from the north and 



The "WESTCHESTER^ 




MAP OF THE 

NEW YORK^- 

WESTCHESTER 

-^S, BOSTON Ry. 

Showing Preeenf- and Proposed 

Connechons from and to 

MANHATTAN 



The shortest and quickest 
route with frequent train 
service and low fares to 
vSuburban Homes in the 
Upper Bronx, Mount 
Vernon, Pelham, New 
RocheUe and White 
Plains. 

X X 

Send for booklet and set of 
attractive picture post 
cards. 

X X 

Fast freight service, Pier 39 
(Old Pier 50 East River) 
or Harlem River Station, 
to Wj'kagyl, (Northern 
New Rochelle), Heath- 
cote (vScarsdale) and 
White Plains. 

X X 

A postal card or request by 
'phone will bring a call 
from the Traveling Freight 
Agent. 

X X 

Advertise your business in 
"WESTCHESTER" 
Coaches and Stations. 
If it pays National Adver- 
tisers — why not you? 

X X 

Our Advertising Agent is at 
your service. 

Address 

INFORMATION BUREAU, 

Room 22, 

180th St. Station, Bronx, 

or 

37 Lawton St., New Rochelle. 

irV irii 

New York, 
Westchester & 
Boston 
Railway Company 



Bird's Business Institute 

F. L. BIRD, Propr. GEO. WOLF, Principal 

(l-Re-Co. Building 




391-EAST 149th STREET, COR. 3rd AVENUE 
ALSO 

Webster 3Ve. k Fordham I^oad 
Cor. 190th St. NEW yOI^K 



Shorthand 

Typewriting Bookkeeping 



GEO. W. BIRD. FOUNDER 



OLIN J. STEPHENS, Inc. 
Five Bronx Yards 



COAL 




[STEPHENS 

^ I38BST ■' 



""fiUSHtO^ 



WOOE 



Phone 4500 Melrose 



Prompt and Careful Deliveries 



A CITY WITHIN A CITY 35 

east. This branch is also used by the residents of Yonkers and 
the suburbs. 

Jei'ome Avenue will be equipped with three extensions of the 
Manhattan Elevated and Subway Systems. Under the hill just 
south of Highbridge, on the banks of the Harlem River, a tunnel 
will be bored to Jerome Avenue for the extensions of the Sixth 
and Ninth Avenue Elevated Lines. These lines will meet the 
Lexington Avenue Subway extension and all three will use the 
elevated structure up Jerome Avenue to Woodlawn. 

At present the residents of the Williamsbridge, Wakefield, 
Bronxwood Park, Westchester and other northern districts of The 
Bronx, reach the West Farms terminal of the subway by trolley. 
To eliminate the double fare and to provide better facilities for 
the residents, the subway will be extended up White Plains Avenue 
to Williamsbridge. 

The new Broadway-Lexington Subway will- aid materially the 
development of The Bronx. Ground was broken in Manhattan 
in November, 1911, and in The Bronx at Mott Avenue north of 
East One Hundred Thirty-eighth Street, on December 7, 1911. The 
subway, it is expected, will be in operation in three years. It is 
to be built jointly by the City of New York and the Interborough 
Rapid Transit Company, and is to be equipped by the company. 

The line will start in lower Broadway and at Forty-second 
Street it will swing into Lexington Avenue to East One Hundred 
Thirty-fifth Street, The Bronx. At this point it will divide into 
two branches : the River and Jerome Avenue branch and the South- 
ern Boulevard and Westchester Avenue branch. The River and 
Jerome Avenue line will be underground as far as River Avenue 
and East One Hundred Fifty-seventh Street, from which point it 
will be elevated to Woodlawn Road. The Southern Boulevard 
and Westchester Avenue line will remain underground as far as 
Whitlock Avenue south of Westchester Avenue, thence elevated to 
Pelham Bay Park. 



CHAPTER V 

BIG INDUSTRIES 

Where Men and Women Shop — The Facilities Offered by Traction Companies — 

Proposed Improvements. 




IKE all large cities, The Bronx has its business cen- 
ters. It is in these shopping districts that property 
shows the greatest increase in values, pays the best 
rentals, provides the best investment, and is most in 
demand. The junction of One Hundred Forty-ninth 
Street and Third Avenue is, without doubt, the most im- 
portant district of the most northern borough. Not only is it 
the transfer point of the West Farms subway and elevated rail- 
roads, but practically every trolley car operated in The Bronx 
passes thru this point. It is also the recongized shopping dis- 
trict of the Borough. Twenty-five years ago lots could be bought 
here for $6,000; today they bring that much rental per annum. 
Here are located department stores and other up-to-date business 
establishments that compare favorably with the largest in Man- 
hattan, and no less than five first-class playhouses bid for the 
amusement seekers' patronage in this particular neighborhood. 

Only a few years ago, theater-goers were obliged to ride 
downtown in order to attend a high-class production. It was 
generally accepted that no first-class theater could be made to 
pay in The Bronx. How far this belief was from fact may be 
judged by the success our theatrical enterprises have achieved. 
During the last five years more than $3,000,000 have been invested 
in amusement structures here. There are one hundred and forty- 
seven amusement places in the Borough, the list including every 
variety from the home of serious drama to the "nickelet" and open- 
air playhouse. 

The ne.xt busiest center is in Tremont. This upper middle 
section of the Borough has shown extraordinary development, and 
there are now in course of construction one hundred and ten build- 
ings, mainly apartment houses. Tremont Avenue, its main thoro- 

36 



BIG INDUSTRIES 



37 



fare, extends from Harlem River W the Long Island Sound, 
and is destined to become one of the leading highways of the 
Borough. The blocks from Webster to Third Avenues are given 
over entirely to business establishments and are veritable bee 
hives of activity. The third-tracking of the Second and Third 
Avenue Elevated Railroads, and the branch connecting the New 
York, Westchester & Boston Railroad will also materially help the 
development of that entire section. 

The third important thorofare is McKinley Square, located 
at One Hundred Sixty-ninth Street and Boston Road. 

The crosstown trolley line opened last year by the Union 
Railroad Company, starting from Washington Bridge and running 




Junction 149th Street and Third Avenue 



east thru One Hundred Sixty-seventh and One Hundred Sixty- 
ninth Streets to McKinley Square, thence to Westchester, and ter- 
minating at Clason's Point, has given new impetus to values along 
its entire route and has added to its population, as has also the new 
One Hundred Forty-ninth Street crosstown line, recently opened. 

Other centers of note are: the junction of One Hundred 
Thirty-eighth Street and Willis Avenue; Westchester, Prospect and 
Longwood Avenues; Westchester Avenue of the Southern Boule- 
vard and West Farms Road, and the intersection of Boston Road, 
Tremont Avenue and West Farms Road. This last center is sure 
to develop and it will even rival One Hundred Forty-ninth Street 
as it is practically the geographical center of the Borough. Almost 
all the important arteries running east and west, north and south 
connect at this point. 



M 



I N E ITS IX THE 

BRONX 



THE THEATRE OF INNOVATIONS 
Third Ave. & 1 56th St. Tel. 1 023 Melrose 

ACME THEATRE CO., Owners EDWIN D. MINER. General Manager 

The Only Playhouse in the Bronx, Devoted to 

HIGH CLASS BURLESQUE AND MUSICAL ATTRACTIONS 




Only the Best & Most Wholesome Attractions Staged ia this Theatre 

All casts are headed by Lesdin?; Coirec^ians and Mirth Makers and 
the Chorus includes the Most Beautiful Girls on the Burlesque Stage 

This Theatre has a seating capacity of l.SOO. and is absoljlaly Fireproaf Special attention is given 
to the comfort of ladies. Polite and attentive ushers and attendants always at your service. 

MATINEE EVERY DAY. Prices 10, 15, 25, 30 and 50 cts. 



SOME 
OF 



M 



I\ER-S 



\ 



ORIGINAL AND FAMOUS 

I\.\0\ATIONS 

High Class No\'elt}' Burlesque 

Our Country 

Store 

Af lertbe retr_: 

the currai-n ni_ . _ „:. - 

tr>- Store — ^A ^e^; vir-.iiy 
of menjiaiidise is on disolav. 



'<r 



\ 



<(. 



■^ 



V. 



1 



A 



'^.: 



"^ 




contents of this wt 
names are read t; 
receive — Twenty-r. 
been filled in by tr 
your coupon. If 
receive a roost Trel^ 
Clothing. HcK-ses, V 
Oh, Yes! These i 



Sf^c-C lo^ uO 



lie time of entering 
is called, just ster 
raent of either Hous 
2t5. Steep, Cows, Cii-^!, 
.^y given away &ee of charge. 










Amateur Night 




From Clog Ehancini, to 

Grand Opera! 

A side-spliT- - r ~ ii - ^th 

Embryo Act 'r :r 

tbo5e who ' \ ;^- 

act."" and wbo str.ve to win 

TDiir ap|Ht>val together with 

— =^^~= iortie iEost suocess-fui candi- 

SEEN .VN A_M.\TEl"R GET THE 



Wrestling 

These v. rr?:.-:ij —niches bv 
the top-notchcTS and head 
liners in their profession — 
Under the personal soper- 
viskHi and direction of Mr. 
George Bothno-, Cbajmpicm 
ligfatweigfat Wrestler of the 
World — are marvds of 



"i-en those who have not cnliivatEd a 




38 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



The Bronx is truly undergoing Aladdin-like changes. 'One has 
but to step around the corner to note some transformation that has, 
mbshroom-like, made its appearance overnight. 

Take, for example, the section lying south of Westchester 







McKiNLEY Square — 169th Street and Boston Road 



Avenue and the Southern Boulevard and see what miracles have 
been wrought there. Less than half a dozen years ago this region 
was but sparsely settled with a dozen or more neglected estates 
scattered over its large territory ; today it is teeming with activity, 
and the old mansions which were once the country seats of promi- 



BIG INDUSTRIES 



39 



nent families have been swept away, and upon their sites have been 
erected hundreds of handsome brick one-, two- and three-family 
homes, and rows upon rows of beautiful apartment houses of the 
most modern and high-class type. 

The American Real Estate Company, Henry Morgenthau Com- 
pany, Geo. F. Johnson, and James F. Meehan, four of the largest 
operators and home-makers in the Bronx, purchased practically 
all of the property embracing what is generally known as the 
Hunt's Point section. For years after their purchases, this section 
was in a state of chaos; rocks were being blasted, streets were 




Boston Road, South from 166th Street in 1883 



being laid out, sewers were being constructed and a total of 
upwards of one million dollars were spent by these owners in 
transforming this territory into city property. It is said that 
the buildings which they erected in that section, can house more 
than one hundred thousand persons. 

A late purchase of the American Real Estate Company was 
the ninety-three acres of the Watson estate lying just north of 
Westchester Avenue and east of the Bronx River. The property 
is located on high ground and contains about twelve hundred 
city lots. 




ALL POINTS OF THE i^Il I ir^AlM^Q 
COMPASS LEAD TO VJ 1 J-i !-• 1 VJ /\ 1 1 O! 

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MOST FAMOUS 

CABARET 

In the Heart 
of the Bronx 
Lobster Belt 

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The happiest com-' 
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, , „ , . We make your Com- 

We"t of -^rO Ave. fort our Hobbj 



Come and Get Acquainted ,"h"eVe°"w°'" 149th St., 



Tel. Melrose 8129 



Open Day & Night 



CRITERION TAXI SERVICE 

Touring Cars and Taxi Cabs 
For All Occasions 

391 East 149th Street 

SPECIAL RATES ON Near Third Avenue 

Shopping. Theatre Parties 

Wedding Calls, Etc. NEW YORK 

Telephone, 892 Melrose 

MAX DEUTSCH 

Graduate N. Y. Pedic Society 

Ready to Wear Orthopedic 
FOOTWEAR 

2653 Third Avenue 
Bet. 141st and 142d Sts. NEW YORK 

MAKER OF 

ORTHOFORM SHOES 
1 RESCRIPTION SHOES 



BE A WEISER MAN 

— AND — 

WEAR WEISER'S CLOTHESJ 

B'way Styles at Bronx Prices 

Our Specialties: 
$IO.OO $I5.00 $20.0C 



Our Men's Furnishing Dept. is 
the most complete in the Bronx 



WEISER'S 

Areco Bldg. 149th St., 3d Ave. 



BIG INDUSTRIES 41 

tion differs from the main thorofare, in that only one- and two- 
family dwellings are being erected. The same conditions prevail 
in the Bedford Park section. 

Crossing over to the easterly section, we come to Throgg's 
Neck, one of the most attractive shore fronts in The Bronx. There 
is a great future before it, particularly if the proposed new subway 
route, which, according to one plan, will have Pelham Park as a 
terminal, will be carried to completion. One of the first improve- 
ments planned, is a shore drive, one hundred feet wide, which will 
skirt Throgg's Neck. 

The water front of The Bronx, aggregating more than forty 
miles of navigable waters, has added unlimited trade and commerce 
to the Borough. Almost the entire territory from Highbridge to 
Hunt's Point has been utilized by railroads, factories and other 
industrial enterprises requiring shipping facilities along the water 
front. The Bronx contains seven hundred factories, each large 
enough to be subject to State supervision and inspection. They 
give employment to at least thirty-five thousand people. 

Among the numerous industries which have contributed 
toward making The Bronx a manufacturing center of world-wide 
renown, the manufacture of pianos and organs ranks among the 
foremost in importance. No less than sixty factories are located 
within the Borough, which turn out these musical instruments in 
amazing quantities annually. These are shipped to all quarters 
of the globe. 

The mammoth plant of the American Bank Note Company 
at Hunt's Point is another institution which employs an army of 
over two thousand workers. For more than a century this com- 
pany has been recognized by experts as the leading engraving and 
printing concern in America, if not in the world. The choice of its 
present site in the Hunt's Point section of The Bronx was the 
result of a thoro canvas of all the available sections in Greater 
New York. Another enormous plant is the De la Vargne Machine 
Works at the foot of East One Hundred Thirty-eighth Street. 
Other industries covering acres and doing a large business are 
the Ward Bread Company, and the lumber, the coal and the brew- 
ing companies. 

A comparison of the business done during 1912 with that of 
the previous year by some of the public service corporations will 



42 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

give one an idea of the immense business transacted in the 
Borough. 

The New York Telephone Company, for example, which has 
about $4,000,000 invested in The Bronx, increased its services 
by installing 4,648 telephones during the past year. On January 
1st, 1906, there were but 5,573 telephones in use in The Bronx, 
while on February 28th, 1913 there were 26,622. 

The New York Edison Company is also making large ex- 
penditures in The Bronx for the development and improvement of 
its facilities for furnishing both light and power. The increase in 
its business during the past year was most remarkable. In 1911 
it had 20,148 customers on its books and in 1912 they numbered 
28,582. 

The Bronx possesses the largest and most perfect plants for 
the making of ice machines and gas engines. All the five com- 
panies which supply gas in the Borough show marked increases in 
the number of customers supplied during 1912. The Central Union 
Gas Company alone entered over 7,000 new customers on' their 
books during the year, which brings their total to 87,000 customers. 

The annual consumption of coal and the increase from year 
to year is also a fair barometer of the business activity in The 
Bronx. In 1912 it reached its record mark of 1,760,000 tons. 

Another proof of the growth of the general retail business 
activity in the Borough is the fact that the National Cash Register 
Company sold over a thousand additional machines during the last 
year. 

By means of the Harlem River Ship Canal many of the new 
products of the country are brought nearer to the Bronx Borough. 

For the accommodation of business men, manufacturers and 
merchants, financial institutions of every class, including a National 
Bank with numerous branches of State Banks and Trust Com- 
panies have been established at all convenient points. For the 
thrifty there are saving banks. All of these institutions are well 
managed and conducted on safe lines so as to command the full 
confidence of their customers. 

For the very immediate future the following improvements 
have been contemplated which will add impetus to business growth : 
Erection of a new station on the New York Central Railroad; 
change from a two-track to a six-track system on the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford Railroad from Harlem River to New 



L eadin g Bronx Stationer 

SCHAPIRO'S 

The Store that gained its reputation by the quality of merchandise sold there. 

Individual Departments (Main Floor) 

Commercial Stationery Social Stationery and Fancy Goods Filing Cabinets, Etc. 

Artists' Materials Kodaks and Supplies Sporting Goods 

Dinner Favors and Prizes for Card Parties, Etc. 

OUR TOY DEPARTMENT (2d Floor) 

One of the largest and most spacious in the City, devoted to 

Imported and Domestic Toys and Dolls Children's Furniture and Wheel Goods 

Baby Carriages Trunks, Bags and Valises 

Printing Dept. on the Premises 

Work of the "Better Kind"~Write or Telephone for our Representative) 



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At 166th St. "L" Station 



Telephone Connections to all Departments 



)^ "Confidence Not Gained in a Day" jt'J( 

^^ Est. 1880 

BRONX LOAN OFFICE 

PAWNBROKERS 

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Between 17Gth Street and Tremont Avenue 



Telephone Melrose 6S11 



Telephone Bryant 3721 



NAT T . EWIS, 



Exclusive Haberdasher 
"The Accommodating Shops" 

569 Melrose Avenue 25 West 42d Street 

Cor. 150th St. Opp. Public Library 

Open Evenings 

MY STORE POLICY: "Every article you buy 
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Tailors of Quality 

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J. H. WEISS, Proprietor 

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Suits to Order $6.00 up 

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Bet. 14Sth and 149th Streets 




THE ONLY AUTO SUPPLY HOUSE IN THE BRONX 



Ford Cars 



DISTRIBUTORS 

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Office and Salesroom lMo«*r Y«-ki.L- Service Department 

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Tel. 7774 Melrose J. GORSE SIMMONS, Pres. and Gen. Mgr Tel. 74 Westchester 





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2498 DeVoe Terrace BRONX 



The Story of the Bronx 

From the Purchase made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day 

By STEPHEN JENKINS 

Authir o( 'The Greatest '■"tietl in the Woild - Broadway." 8vo. With over 100 
illustrations and maps. $3 50 net; by mail. $3.73. 

The romantic liistory of the northern .section of Greater New York from the days of Jonas 
Bronk, after whom the I3ronx was named, throug'i the centuries crowded with events that have 
issued into the present, The geographical landmarks acquire a new signilicance as around them' 
this accurate historian of local events and cjiiditions weaves the substantial fabric of fact and 
more sparingly the lighter web of tradition. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 2-4-6 W. 45th St , New York 



BIG INDUSTRIES 43 

Eochelle; proposed New York and New Jersey bridge across the 
Hudson at One Hundred Forty-ninth Street ; the erection of a new 
Federal building at One Hundred Forty-ninth Street and Mott 
Avenue, which is to cost over half a million dollars, and is to in- 
clude the Bronx Central Post Office, the Internal Revenue Bureau, 
the Treasury and Commerce and Labor Departments; the build- 
ing of a connecting railroad, connecting Long Island with the 
Borough by a bridge; the erection of a direct east side subway; 
the improvement of the splendid water front by increased dock 
facilities; and the establishment of a public produce market. 

The following waterway improvements are now under way 
or planned : Deepening of Spuyten Duyvil Creek, Harlem River, and 
Bronx Kills in connection with Barge Canal traffic; widening and 
deepening of Bronx River and Westchester Creek; plan adopted 
to make the Hutchinson River 80 to 900 feet wide. 

Borough President Cyrus C. Miller proposes a plan for in- 
dustrial development benefiting directly the area which may be 
described roughly as lying south and east of a line beginning in 
the South Bronx at Macomb's Park and running thence easterly 
across One Hundred Sixty-first Street to Westchester Avenue; 
thence easterly along Westchester Avenue along West Farms Road 
and Boston Road to One Hundred Eightieth Street at the easterly 
boundary of Bronx Park ; thence northerly along the eastern boun- 
dary of Bronx Park to Bear Swamp Road; thence along Bear 
Swamp Road to Morris Park Avenue to Stillwell Avenue to Bronx 
and Pelham Parkway, and from this point east to Long Island 
Sound. 

This district comprises about one-third the area of The Bronx, 
or about fourteen square miles. It is bordered on the south and 
east by the Harlem River, Bronx Kills and Long Island Sound, 
and intersected by Bronx River and Westchester Creek, which 
run up into the mainland from the Sound. It has a water front 
seventeen miles long with bays and indentations for the anchorage 
of ships and the building of docks. 

The prime necessity for the whole plan is an industrial rail- 
way for freight around the south and east shores of The Bronx, 
so as to connect all the railroads coming into The Bronx with the 
dock system planned by Commissioner Tomkins, and by means of 
spurs, with the factories to be built in the territory described. 

This will make it possible for a loaded freight car to come 



44 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

into The Bronx on any railroad or steamship pier or dock, or to 
any factoiy or warehouse that is connected with the railway by 
a spur. 

The Borough President has directed his engineers to draw 
up tentative plans for the Industrial Railway and has interested 
men of capital in the plan. One step in this development has been 
made by the Ryawa Realty Company, which has begun a $20,- 
000,000 development at the mouth of the Bronx River, similar to 
the Bush Terminal stores in Brooklyn. 

Part of the plan is to have a Union Terminal Market on the 
line of the Industrial Railway, where food products may be carried 
by all the railroads and steamships coming to The Bronx and dis- 
tributed directly and cheaply to the retail dealers of the Borough. 




CHAPTER VI 
THE STORY OF GREAT BRIDGES 

The Water Front That Invites Big Ships from Over the Seven Seas — Early 
Highways. 

pLLIONS of dollars have been spent by the Govern- 
ment in deepening and widening the channels of 
waterways, and more money is constantly being ex- 
pended on improvements. The crowding of com- 
merce and the ever growing demand for more 
docking space in Manhattan will eventually force the city 
to build substantial wharves and piers along the matchless 
water front. The opening of the Erie Canal and the Harlem Ship 
Canal has brought The Bronx and the maritime states of New 
England into direct water communication with the Great Lakes 
of the Northwest, and it is only a question of time when the ocean 
greyhounds will be docking at Port Morris, at which point the 
East River is deepest. This will save 300 miles of water route, 
as it will enable steamers to come direct thru Long Island Sound, 
instead of the Narrows and the Lower Bay. 

Our forefathers, as far back as 1693, saw the necessity of a 
bridge across the Harlem River. Since then nearly every leading 
thorofare of Manhattan has been extended into The Bronx by 
means of a bridge, and around these centers there has been un- 
paralleled gro\\'th of traffic and prosperity. 

The old bridges which once connected the Borough of The 
Bronx with Manhattan have all been taken dovm and replaced 
by up-to-date steel structures. 

The first bridge across the Harlem River was built by Fred- 
erick Philipse in 1693. It was named "King's Bridge" and stood 
about where the present Broadway Bridge is situated until 1713, 
when it was moved to just east of the present structure which bears 
the name of Spuyten Duyvil Creek Bridge. 

Originally a ferry, owned by Johannes Verveelen, plied be- 
tween Westchester County and Manhattan Island. As traffic 

45 



46 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



became too heavy, it was decided to replace the ferry by a bridge 
over Spuyten Duyvil Creek; but the public treasury was insufficient 
for the undertaking of such a project. The wealthy Frederick 
Philipse, foreseeing the possibility of reaping a large revenue, pro- 
posed to build the bridge at his own expense if he were permitted 
to collect tolls. The Provincial Assembly granted to Philipse 
"the neck or island of land called Paparinemo with the salt 
meadows thereunto belonging, together with power and authority 
to erect a bridge over the water or river commonly called Spiten 




Courtesi/ Dcpartnieiit of Bridfics, City of Neio York 

King's Bridge over Spuyten Duyvil Creek in 1856 

Devil Ferry or Paparinemo." The "Dutch Millionaire" was author- 
ized to impose the following tolls: 

" 3 pens (pence) for each man or horse that shall pass in 

the daytime. 
" 3 pens for each head of neat cattle. 
"12 pens for each score of hoggs, calves, or sheep. 
" 9 pens for every boat, vessel or canoe that shall pass the 

said bridge and cause the same to be drawn up. 
" 9 pens for each coach, cart, or sledge, or waggon." 

The bridge was of much importance during the Revolution. 
Over it Washington's defeated and disheartened army retreated in 



THE STORY OF GREAT BRIDGES 



47 



September, 1776; and over it again in November, 1783, Wash- 
ington, Governor George Clinton and a guard of honor crossed, this 
time with their faces southward, to resume once more the pos- 
session of the City of New York. The surrounding section re- 
ceived the name of Kingsbridge from this bridge. 

A short distance southeast of the King's Bridge stood the 
Farmers' Free or Dyckman's Bridge, erected in 1758 which, unlike 
King's Bridge, was free of all tolls. Philipse's bridge had become 
irksome to the farmers who were obliged to pay toll each time they 



•i'" 

'./': 




Courtesy Department of Bridnes, City of A'rtr York 

Farmers' Bridge (Dyckman's) over Spuyten Duyvil Creek in 1860 



crossed and recrossed it on their way to and from market. A move- 
ment was therefore started by Benjamin Palmer of City Island 
for raising a popular subscription with which to erect a free 
bridge. Palmer was encouraged in his efforts by Thomas Vermilye 
of Fordham and Jacob Dyckman of Manhattan, both of whom fur- 
nished the land for the approaches of the bridge. Despite the 
persistent opposition of Frederick Philipse, who realized that his 
revenue would be curtailed, the project was effected and the "Free 
Bridge" formally opened on New Year's Day of 1759. Thus was 
a blow struck at Colonial aristocracy. 

The bridge was also known as "Farmers' Bridge," "Dyck- 



48 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



man's Bridge," and afterwards as "Hadley's Bridge"; the latter 
name after George Hadley who purchased this section in 1785 
from the Commissioners of Forfeiture. The bridge was destroyed 
during the Revolution, but rebuilt after the war. Jn 1911 it was 
replaced by a steel structure. 

In 1795 the State Legislature granted a franchise to John B. 
Coles to build a dam bridge across the Harlem River. This is 
known as the first Third Avenue, or Harlem, Bridge. Heretofore 
all persons going from Manhattan to the mainland, and vice versa. 




Free or Farmer's Bridge in 1910 



were obliged to travel in a round about way across Spuyten Duyvil 
Creek by ford or ferry or bridge. The bridge was to be constructed 
within four years, and the o^vnership was to be vested in Coles 
for sixty years, after which period it was to become the property 
of the State. A lock, attended by a lock-keeper, was to permit the 
passage of vessels. 

The tolls which Coles was authorized to collect, provided he 
kept the bridge in repair, ranged from one cent for every ox, 
cow, or steer, and three cents for every pedestrian to thirty-seven 
and a half cents for every four-wheeled pleasure carriage and 
horses that passed the bridge. At the expiration of the sixty years, 



THE STORY OF GREAT BRIDGES 



4S 



the Harlem Bridge Company, which was incorporated in 1808, 
loathe to relinquish so rich a pudding, made efforts to procui-e an 
extension of its franchise ; but the State Legislature turned it over 
to the counties of New York and Westchester, who converted it 
into a free thorofare. 

For almost seventy years the Harlem Bridge did noble service 
across the Harlem River, when, owing to the increased traffic 
between Harlem and Morrisania, it was found necessary to replace 
it with an iron structure. This second Third Avenue, or Harlem, 




Courtesy Dcpai-tmcnt of Bridncs, Citii of Ncio York 

Macomb's Dam Bridge over Harlem River, 1838 



Bridge was in turn removed to make room for a more modern 
steel and iron bridge with a draw of 300 feet. The third Harlem 
Bridge was opened to the public on August 1st, 1898, at a cost to 
the City of $2,357,742.51. 

In 1800 Alexander Macomb, a wealthy merchant of New York 
City, who had come into possession of the forfeited Philipse prop- 
erty, obtained from the city authorities a water grant extending 
across Spuyten Duyvil Creek just east of the King's Bridge. His 
son Robert obtained, in 1813, a grant to erect a dam across the 
Harlem from Bussing's Point on the Manhattan side to Devoe's 
Point on the Westchester shore, thus practically forming a mill 



50 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



pond out of the Hai-lem River and the Spu\-ten Duyvil Creek to 
supplj- power to the mills constructed along the Westchester side. 
There was a sl:ipulation, however, that the dam should be so con- 
structed as to allow the passage of boats, and that Macomb should 
alwaj's have a person in attendance to afford the desired passage. 
He neglected, however, to carry out this direction, and not only 
erected the dam without the specified contrivance, but converted 
its lip into a permanent bridge, known as Macomb's Dam Bridge, 
and collected tolls from all who crossed it. The utter obstruction 




(ourtesy Defartmtnt of Bridges^ City of A** ir York 

Macomb's Dam Bridge in 1861 



of the river thus introduced, continued until 1838. In the mean- 
time Robert Macomb had become insolvent and his property was 
now in the possession of the Renwicks. 

Protests were raised against the obstruction of the Hai-lem 
River as well as against the unauthorized collection of tolls, but 
they went unheeded. In 1838, Lewis G. Morris, a member of that 
family which have always championed the people's rights, devised 
a plot whereby he would bring the matter to an issue before the 
courts. 

He built a dock half a mile north of Highbridge and chartered 
the vessel Nonpareil to carry a load of coal for delivery at Morris 



TELEPHONE, 3869 MELROSE 



LEWIS G. FRIED 

863 Kelly St., Bronx, N.Y. 

Parquet and Hardwood 
FLOORS 



OF EVERY DESCRIPTION 



Old Floors Cleaned, 
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Prospect 
Taxi Co-, Inc. 



High Class Work and 
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Accessories and 
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Taxi Service 



! 784-786 Southern Boulevard 

i 

BRONX. NEW YORK 

IPhone. Melrose 7"»8 




Pt^ONE 4619 MELROSE 

Dresses and Slirts a Specially 

A. GREIF 
Ladies' Tailor 

885 Prospect Ave. 

Between 161st and \62A Streets 
New York 



Prospect $1.00 Skirt Company 

S30 Westchester Ave. 

Near Prospect Ave. Sub Station 

Skirts Made to Order $1.00 up 
Suits Made to Order $6.00 up 

We also make SKIRTS and SUITS 
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AUG. KORSMEIER. Prcsideai 
Tel., Tremont 2500 



BOULEVARD AUTO CO. GARAGE 



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4380 Third Ave., 

Cor. 180th St. New York 
Phone Trcmont 1844 



THE STORY OF GREAT BRIDGES 



51 



Dock. When the Noiip"it-til reached the dam at full tide, Mor- 
ris demanded that the passage be opened. As this request was 
not complied with, Morris with the aid of about one hundred men, 
who appeared on a number of small boats, tore out a part of the 
dam and thus forced thru the passage of his vessel. A suit 
was instituted by the Renwicks against Morris in the Superior 
Court for the damage done to the dam, but a decison was rendered 




Macomb Mansion, Kingsbsidge 



against the plaintiffs. The Supreme Court and later the Court of 
Errors upheld the original decision. Chancellor Walworth, in 
handing down his decison, said in part: "The Harlem River is 
an arm of the sea and a public navigable river; it was a public 
nuisance to obstruct the navigation thereof without authority of 
Law." 

From that time on a drawbridge was always maintained in 
the dam rendering the Harlem free to navigation. It was in turn 
replaced in 1861, by a swinging draw which became known as 
the Second Macomb's Dam Bridge, and remained in service until 



52 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



1895, when a Third Macomb's Dam, or Central Bridge, a steel 
structure, took its place. 

The oldest bridge across the Harlem today is the famous 
High Bridge, which was completed in 1849. It is 1,450 feet long and 
25 feet wide, and extends between West One Hundred Seventy- 
fifth Street and Tenth Avenue, Manhattan, and Aqueduct Avenue 
near One Hundred Seventieth Street, The Bronx. It is an excel- 
lent example of masonry arch construction, and is one of the sights 
of the neighborhood. 

High Bridge, as the name suggests, was so constructed as not 




^Q 



W^ 




/ ^ --^jV iJ'-iJtirtmcnt of Briihh .,. i ./_;/ <;; A\ ,i io. /. 

Willis Avenue Bridge 



to interfere with the navigation of the Harlem River. This was- 
the effect of the decision rendered by the courts of the State of 
New York in connection with the Macomb's Dam Bridge.- It had 
been planned to conduct the water of the Croton River by means 
of a low siphon bridge across the Harlem River to supply water 
to the City of New York. But the decision of 1839 caused the 
Legislature to pass an act directing the water commissioners to 
construct the aqueduct over the Harlem River with arches and 
piers ; the arches to have a span of at least eighty feet and not less 
than one hundred feet from the usual high-water mark of the river 
to the underside of the arches of the crown. 



THE STORY OP GREAT BRIDGES 55 

Between the King's and the Farmers' or Dyckman's Bridges 
stands the Broadway Bridge, a perfect example of its type. It was 
opened to the public October 14, 1900. 

Facing the Broadway Bridge is the Macomb Mansion. In 
1693 this was known as the "public house at the north end of the 
bridge," and in 1776 as Cox's Tavern. It was bought by Alexander 
Macomb in 1797, who built nearby in 1800 the First Macomb's 
Dam, and in 1848 was sold to the late J. H. Godwin. Parts still 
show its age. 

The Washington Bridge, with its two great steel arch spans 
of 510 feet each comes next and is one of the most beautiful speci- 
mens of ornamental bridgework in the world. It connects West 
One Hundred Eighty-first Street, Manhattan, with Aqueduct Ave- 
nue near East One Hundred Seventy-first Street, The Bronx. The 
bridge was opened to the public in 1888, after two years in building 
and at a cost of nearly three millions of dollars. Its entire length 
is 2,399 feet, and it is 86 feet wide. The crowns of the arches are 
1331/2 feet above the mean high-water mark. 

Beginning at the East River and extending towards the Hud- 
son is the magnificent Willis Avenue steel drawbridge which sup- 
ports a heavy traffic. It connects East One Hundred Twenty-fifth 
Street and First Avenue, Manhattan, with East One Hundred 
Thirty-fourth Street and Willis Avenue, Bronx. It cost two mil- 
lion dollars, and was opened to the public August 22nd, 1901. 

Next comes the Third Avenue Bridge carrying the Elevated 
Railroad. This is owned by the Suburban Rapid Transit Company, 
but there is a free public footway. The Fourth Avenue Bridge 
is said to be the heaviest steel drawbridge in the world, and is 
used exclusively for railroad crossing. 

The splendid Madison Avenue Bridge comes next, connecting 
Madison Avenue, Manhattan, with East One Hundred Thirty- 
eighth Street, The Bronx. This was the first bridge to be well 
elevated above the river so that it would not be necessary to open 
the draw for every passing vessel. The draws are not opened 
before 9 o'clock in the morning nor later than 5 o'clock in the 
afternoon, so as to avoid blocking the traffic and delaying the 
passengers. The first Madison Avenue Bridge, constructed in 
1884, was replaced by a larger and more substantial structure,. 
which was opened to the public on July 18th, 1910. 

The One Hundred Forty-fifth Street Bridge connects West 



54 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

One Hundred Forty-fifth Street and Lenox Avenue, Manhattan, 
with East One Hundred Forty-ninth Street, The Bronx. It was 
opened to the public on August 24th, 1905. Then follow the Ma- 
comb's Dam; New York and Putnam; Washington; University 
Heights ; Ship Canal ; Broadway and King's Bridges. 

Connecting the Borough of The Bronx with the Borough of 
Queens is to be the new steel Bronx-Astoria Bridge, now in the 
process of construction. This bridge, which will be the largest 
of its kind in the world, will consist of a series of spans from Port 
Morris over Randall's and Ward's Islands, to the shore of the 
Borough of Queens, and will provide for direct railroad communi- 
cation between the two boroughs. It was designed by former 
Bridge Commissioner, Gustav Lindenthal and Palmer and Horn- 
bostel. 

The viaduct in The Bronx will be twelve blocks long, from 
One Hundred Forty-second Street and Walnut Avenue, where it 
will be twenty feet above ground, thru the Port Morris yard 
of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, to the water 
front ; here its height will be sixty-five feet. 

The first span, a 300-foot bridge of the lift type, will cross 
Bronx Kills. There will be a steel pier in the center, so constructed 
as to permit, in the event of the Kills being deepened, as was pro- 
posed by the War Department, the passage of vessels from the 
Hudson River to the Sound by way of the Harlem Ship Canal. 

Next will come a 2,600-foot viaduct across Randall's Island, 
connecting with the second bridge, a 1,000 foot riveted truss bridge 
composed of five spans across Little Hell Gate. This joins the 
viaduct across Ward's Island, which will rest on concrete piers and 
will be 2,600 feet long. This viaduct will join the main bridge 
structure across Hell Gate, connecting with the Astoria shore be- 
tween Ditmars and Potter Avenues, just south of the old Barclay 
Mansion. 

The railroad crossing this bridge will have a line for freight 
and another for passengers. The passenger line will connect the 
Pennsylvania Railroad and the New Haven by means of the Penn- 
sylvania tunnel under the Hudson River and the tunnel under the 
City at Thirty-fourth Street, thus making a route thru The 
Bronx from the southwest to New England and Canada. The 
freight line will' come by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad along 
the north shore of Staten Island to St. George, thence by tunnel 



THE STORY OF GREAT BRIDGES 55 

under the narrows to South Brooklyn, and thence by the Bronx- 
Astoria Bridge to the Bronx. 

The finest bridge of all, however, will be the Henry Hudson 
Memorial Bridge which is to be erected over the ship canal con- 
necting Manhattan and The Bronx. This bridge will have a span 
of 703 feet and will rank as one of the grandest achievements in 
bridge engineering, as no masonry arch has yet been built with a 
span of even 300 feet. 

With the possible exception of the Albany Post Road, which 
extends along the eastern bank of the historic Hudson; the old 
King's Bridge Road leading thru Fordham; and the Boston 
Post Road, which branches east at King's Bridge, nearly all of the 
early highways have disappeared entirely or have been so altered 
that they are unrecognizable. The old Westchester Path, which 
was the first roadway cut out in Westchester County by the early 
pioneers, is but a memory today; and all traces of its former 
existence have been obliterated. In the early Colonial days it was 
the only road leading from Manhattan Island to Westchester 
County. By going along its crooked route, denoted by marked 
trees thru the dense wilderness, it was possible, if one cared 
to follow the Indian trails, to reach Greenwich and the Berkshire 
Hills. 

Many of the families followed the line of the old Westchester 
Path as is shown by the early deeds which speak of the old West- 
chester Path as bounding their property on one side or the other. 

It was also over this path that the Colonial Legislature made 
its flight to White Plains in 1776, from the scenes of its deliberation 
in New York City, and this was the r6ad chosen by Harvey Birch, 
Fenimore Cooper's Spy, in his secret journeys for the Commander- 
in-Chief of the Continental army. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE PARKS 

The Parks Show Nature in Her Happiest Mood — Broad Acres Yield to Sport 
and Sentiment — Scenes Hallowed by Sacrifices and Struggles of Our 
Ancestors — A Page of Old History — The Bronx Beautiful Society. 



w 




p^?;^HAT has already greatly added to the attractiveness 
■^iljll of The Bronx is its splendid chain of parks and recrea- 
tion places. All the boroughs have beautiful parks, 
but in none has Nature been more lavish in her handi- 
work than in those located in The Bronx. 

In April, 1883, the Legislature of New York, in the face of 
much opposition, passed an act authorizing an appointment of a 
commission to select one or more parks beyond the Harlem River. 
This commission was duly appointed, and they marked out the 
sites of the three large parks — Pelham, Bronx and Van Cortlandt 
— and of three little ones — Crotona, Claremont and St. Mary's. 
The commission consisted of Luther R. Marsh, President; Waldo 
Hutchins, Louis Fitzgerald, Charles L. Tiffany, George W. McLean, 
Thomas J. Crombie, William W. Niles, and John Mullay, Secretary, 
nearly all of whom had been from the beginning conspicuously 
active in the movement. 

The chief objection raised against the purchase of park land 
was that the parks would be a heavy expense to the city, and that 
the money was needed for other purposes. But this was met by 
the argument that the acquisition by the city of the parks would 
raise the value of real estate in their neighborhood, and that the 
city would profit by the increased taxable value of the property. 
This was shown to be the case in regard to Central Park. The 
experience of other cities, particularly Chicago and Boston, was 
cited to substantiate this statement. 

In June, 1884, the legislature passed an act giving possession 
of the six parks to the City of New York, and directing the 
Supreme Court to appoint a commission to appraise the lands. 
This was done, and the land became the property of the City at a 
cost of $9,000,000. 

56 



THE PARKS 57 

There are seventeen named parks in the Borough, with a 
total of 3.916 acres, besides numerous unnamed grounds open to 
the public. The Bronx has 1.148 more acreage of park lands, 
including the parkways, than all the other boroughs combined. 
They are so evenly distributed thruout the Borough that they 
are within the reach of all and afford ample pleasure grounds for 
the multitudes. 

The parks and park^-ays of The Bronx extend from one end 
of the Borough to the other. Beginning with the most westerly 
park limit there is the Spu>-ten Dujwil Parkway, beginning at the 
junction of Spuji:en Dujwil Creek and the Hudson River, and wind- 
ing over the hills and thru the valleys until it intersects Van 
Cortlandt Park at Two Hundred Seventy-second Street. This park- 
way is intended to be a connecting link, in time, between the system 
of parkways in The Bronx and those in Manhattan by means of a 
\iaduct over the Spuj-ten Duyvil Creek, to connect with a similar 
parkway leading along the western side of Manhattan, which will 
be an extension of Riverside Drive and Boulevard Lafayette. 

Going easterly thru Van Cortlandt Park, we enter the 
Mosholu Parlvway, which leads directly to Bronx Park. Crossing 
Bronx Park, and still going easterly we enter The Bronx and 
Pelham Parkway, which brings us over to the great Pelham Bay 
Park, and following along the roadway thru Pelham Bay Park 
leads us up to the northerly limits of the Citj-, and out into the town 
of Pelham Manor and New Rochelle. 

The largest of these parks are: Pelham Bay. Van Cortlandt, 
and Bronx Parks. These three alone cover 3,608 acres. Other 
parks in the Borough include Claremont, Crotona, De Voe, Joseph 
Rodman Drake. Echo. Sigel. Macomb's Dam, Poe. St. James. St. 
Mary's, University- and Washington Bridge. 

Pelham Bay, the largest of the parks, is twice the size of 
Central Park, and contains large tracts of woodland with nine 
miles of water front. It has a fine athletic field and parade ground, 
an 18-hole golf course, and also two excellent bathing beaches. 
Here we have located a tent citj-, named Orchard Beach, where 
families and clubs erect their tents and spend the summer in the 
open air under the supervision of the Park Department. 

It was in this park that Thomas Pell signed an important 
treaty with two Siwanoy Indian sachems in 1654, which made 
him lord of all that region. An iron fence that once surrounded 



^ 



■^ AMUSEMENT ^ 



«» 



RYE, N.Y. 



PARK 



on Long 

island Sound 



ACCESSIBLE FROM ALL POINTS BETWEEN 
NEW YORK CITY AND BRIDGEPORT 
OPENS DECORATION. DAY CLOSES SEPTEMBER 15th. 




FINEST AND SAFEST BATHING BEACH ON LONG ISLAND SOUND 

New Concrete Bathing Pavilion with over 300 Rooms. 

A SCORE OF THE SAFEST AND MOST MODERN AMUSEMENT DEVICES. 



Westchester's Paradise for Children and Grown Ups 

Ideal (or Sunday School Picnics and Outings. Basket Parties Welcome. Accommodations for 1,000 in 
Grove. 60 foot Ferris Wheel — Commanding a Magnificent view of surrounding country. "Dip the Loop" 
Half Mile Coaster — Speedy, Safe and Strong. Mammoth Circle Swing — Blood Tingling and Ejhilaratirg. 
Frolic and Old Mill— Will drive away the blues— Both Uproariously Funny. MANY OTHER FEATURES. 
Large Open Air Theatre — Two high class performances daily. Immense Dancing Pavilion and Good Music 
Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Most Luxurious Bathing Pavilion in United States. 



RYE BEACH PARK 

LET THEM ENJOY THE DELIGHTFUL AIR, 
THE SAFEST BATHING ON THE SOUND 
and Dig in the Sand or Fly on the Swings, etc. 




They will have the care of our personal attendants on the CAROUSEL 

Plenty of room for them to roam, or they may 
find an abundance of Free Games to amuse them 

The Pony Track, around which speed gentle and well broken ponies, will 
prove a source of great delight to them. 

The Candy, Ice Cream and Lemonade are made on the grounds from pure ingredients 



58 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



the famous tree under which it was signed, is all that remains 
to remind us of "Treaty Oak," which was destroyed in 1906 by a 
bolt of lightning. Here, too, on October 18, 1776, Col. Glover 
with a brigade of 550 Marhlehead fishermen engaged Sir William 
Howe's army and held it in check long enough to enable General 
Washington's forces to make a successful retreat to White Plains. 




Pell Treaty Oak, Pelham Bay Park 



This feat is memorialized by a tablet on the face of a great glacial 
boulder on the City Island road, known as "Glover's Rock." 

Extending thru this park, also, is "Split Rock" Road. This 
derives its name from a large boulder which seems to have been 
cleft in twain by a tree growing up thru the middle of the rock. 
Near this boulder is the site of the house of the unfortunate Anne 
Hutchinson who was cruelly butchered by the Indians. 



THE PARKS 69 

Over the Hutchinson River, which pei*petuates the memory of 
the fateful religious reformer in this region, is the Pelhani Bridge, 
constructed in 1908. This bridge replaced an older one built in 
1870, which was itself a successor to one erected in 1834. The Pel- 
ham Bridge has been famous for the large fish that have been 
caught from it, i-anging in weight from twenty to sixty-three 
pounds. 

The famous old chestnut tree, under whose spreading branches 
Lord Howe and his officers had their luncheon just before the 
battle of White Plains, is still standing in a wooded dell north of 
Eastchester. 

The region at one time abounded in wild animals. Within two 
centuries, wolves were a great pest in this neighborhood. The 
Provincial Assembly enacted that in the County of Westchester 
twenty shillings (about $5) should be paid for a grown wolf killed 
by a Christian, and ten shillings ($2.50) for one killed by an 
Indian, and half that sum respectively for a whelp. The remains 
of wolf-pits were, up to recently, to be seen not far from Pelham 
Park. Besides the deer, the wild turkey existed in great numbers 
on the verge of the forest. It is said that flocks of them used to 
fly from the ridge west of Van Cortlandt Park across Tippet's 
Brook to a hill east of this little stx'eam. The flight was always 
begun by a large black cock, and was made at sunset. The leader 
gave the note and the flock were at once on the wing. 

Beavers were very common on the Bronx River. The last of 
them were seen there about 1790. It is said they at one time changed 
the course of the river by a dam. If the current was feeble, they 
saved themselves trouble by building the dam straight across; but, 
if it was strong, they built the dam in a convex shape, so as to 
resist the strength of the water. It was, therefore, possible to 
tell the force of a stream by the shape of the beaver dams. 

Van Cortlandt Park, a botanical reservation, is situated in 
Northwest Bronx and is the second largest in the Borough. On 
account of its accessibility it is much further advanced in its 
development and is more generally used than Pelham Bay Park. 
Its smooth 150-acre parade ground, hemmed in on three sides by 
rugged hills and picturesque landscapes, makes a very impressive 
scene. On this green sward the National Guardsmen in summer 
fight their sham battles and hold their dress parades. The field 



60 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



is also used for athletic sports of all kinds, particularly baseball, 
golf and polo. 

The parade ground is the site of Adrien Van der Donck's 
Planting Field (1653), where he located his bouwerie. Van der 
Donck had been sheriff of Rensselaerswyck, but his young, newly- 
wedded wife persuaded him to remove to Manhattan. Before he 
had completed his arrangements for removal, his pretty cottage 
burned down ; and, as it was in the depth of an inclement winter 
(1647), Van Corlear invited his houseless neighbors to share his 
hospitality. A quarrel soon arose because the host insisted that 




Van Cortlandt Vault, Van Cortlandt Park 



Van der Donck was bound to make good to his patroon the value 
of the lost house. Van der Donck retorted sharply, and was orderd 
from the house. Kieft, who was indebted to him for a large amount 
of borrowed money, permitted him to purchase from the Indians a 
large tract of land, now part of Van Cortlandt Park, and granted 
him the privileges of patroon. This took the name of Colen Donck. 
on Donck's Colony. Many of the Dutch were in the habit of calling 
this estate de Jonkheer's Landt, Jonkheer being a title which in 
Holland was applied to the sons of noblemen. The English cor- 
rupted it and called it "Yonkers," whence the name of the town 
north of Van Cortlandt Park. 

Van Cortlandt Lake comprises about seventy-five acres and 
during winter offers opportunity to ten or fifteen thousand skaters. 



THE PARKS 



61 



and in summer is dotted by those who love to go out in small boats. 
It was made in 1700 by throwing an embankment across Tippett's 
Brook, the Mosholu of the Indians. 

No spot of ground around New York is so hallowed by Revolu- 
tionary memories as this. It was on Vault Hill, to the northwest 
of the Van Cortlandt mansion, that Washington in 1781 kept a 
string of camp fires blazing for several days to deceive Clinton 
across Spuyten Duyvil Creek, while the allied French and American 
armies were speeding across the Jerseys on their way to Philadel- 



^ 




^'-^M 



Van Cortlandt Mansion, Van Cortlandt Park 



phia and Yorktown. Vault Hill derived its name from the ancient 
burial place of the Van Cortlandts. It was in this vault that the 
records of the City of New York were hidden by Augustus Van 
Cortlandt, then City Clerk, when the City was evacuated by the 
Americans in 1776, and preserved until peace was restored. 

In the lower part of Van Cortlandt Park, in front of the 
Parade Ground, still stands the historic mansion erected in 1748 
by Frederick Van Cortlandt, who married Frances Jay, daughter 
of the ancestor of Chief Justice John Jay. Frederick Van Cort- 
landt refers to it in his will, written in 1749 as "the large stone 
dwelling house which I am about finishing." 



62 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Two eagles surmounted the posts of an old gateway which, 
according to Bolton's "Histoiy of Westchester," were spoils taken 
from a Spanish privateer, and presented to the house by a British 
Admiral. The Eagles have disappeared since the sale to the City. 
General Washington occupied this house for a brief time in 1781, 
prior to his retreat to Yorktown, and at the close of the war in 
1783 spent a night there before ci'ossing King's Bridge on his 
triumphal entry into the City of New York. The house is still in 




Van CuKTLANLiT Mills 



an excellent state of preservation, and is used as a repository of 
Colonial and Revolutionary relics, in the care of the Colonial 
Dames. It is furnished, as in the old historic days, with high 
canopied bedsteads and other quaint household articles. In the 
kitchen may still be seen the old fashioned utensils and the large 
fireplace. It was in the capacious rooms of this grand, old resi- 
dence that Washington, Rochambeau, the Duke of Clarence (later 
King William the Fourth) , and other celebrities were entertained. 
During the Revolution this structure was the headquarters for the 
Hessian Jaegers. Captain Rowe of the Princhbank Jaegers, having 
been mortally wounded by the American water guard stationed on 



THE PARKS 



63 



Wild Boar Hill, was conveyed into one of the rooms of the Van 
Cortlandt mansion, where, after faintly speaking a few words to 
his broken-hearted bride-elect, became exhausted by the effort, and 
expired in her arms. 

Grand old trees surround the ancient mansion and spread their 
mighty boughs above the eaves of that stately old building, as 
if to shield it from the blustering winds that on stormy days sweep 
over the ridge. South of the mansion, surrounded by a moat, is 





Fifteenth Milestone 



Tenth Milestone 



the Dutch garden. One of the stones of the old mill forms the 
base for the pedestal of a sun dial. Under the shadow of this 
building may be seen the grim Rhinelander Sugar-House Prison 
window, removed hither from Duane and Rose Streets, Manhattan. 
This Rhinelander Sugar House was used during the Revolutionary 
War as a British military prison, and it was against the solid 
iron grated bars of this window that the patriots pressed their 
faces to get a breath of pure air. The window was presented by 
T. J. 0. Rhinelander, and dedicated on May 26, 1903. It is flanked 
by two cannons from Fort Independence. 

A crumbling old millstone on the bank of the mill race, near 
the site of the original Van Cortlandt house, is the only remaining 



64 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



relic of the picturesque saw and grist mills erected by Jacobus 
Van Cortlandt, in 1700, which stood on the west side of the bridge 
crossing the dam; they were struck by lightning and destroyed in 
1901. To the westward, on Newton Avenue, part of the old Albany 
Post Road, near Two Hundred Twenty-second Street, may still 
be seen one of the two surviving milestones in this Borough, 
recently reset by the City History Club. It was the fifteenth on 
the route to Albany; the other one (the tenth milestone) is located 
at One Hundred Sixty-eighth Street and Boston Road. 




Hadley House 



About four hundred paces north is the Van Cortlandt's miller's 
Jiouse, a white house built for the miller of the old estate. 

Further along on the left is the Hadley house, partly of wood, 
unpainted, and partly of stone covered with vines. It probably 
antedates the Van Cortlandt mansion. It is said to have given 
shelter more than once to Washington. In the adjoining woods 
many relics have been found, including old English muskets, and 
an Indian skeleton in a sitting position, holding a small child's 
skeleton in its arms. Just above, north of Riverside Lane, is the 



ARE YOXT HIPP'!^ GO TO IvIPP'S 



I 




i 



Situated iu most 
picturesque part of 
Bronx directly op- 
posite Fordliam en- 
trance of Bronx Park 
Large, shady veran- 
da, wliere you can he 
entertained by a con- 
stant stream of auto- 
raoljiles from four dif- 
ferent directions 

Easily accessible 
from any point in the 
city. All cars stop 
at or transfer to the 
door. 

■♦♦♦ 
Musical Enlerlainment 

Afternoons & Evenings 
♦♦♦■ 

Refreshments 

of Every Description 
♦+♦ 

Meals a la Carte 

At Popular Prices 



Large up-to-date Sheds for the accommodation of Horses and Automobiles 

KIPP'S PARKWAY HOTEL, 



Under the management of Frank W. Kipp 
for the past thirteen years 



Z 



Cor. Fordham Road & Southern Boulevard, Bronx, N. Y. C. 

T- Directly Opposite Bronx Zoo. Entrance at 1 82d 
avern st.&so.Boui. henry jaeger, Prop. Tei.470 

■^ * Ire men 




Summer and 

Winter 

Garden 



Hall for 

Weddings and 
Private Parties 
Banquets and 
Lodge Meet- 
ings. 



Automobile Parties a Specialty Excellent Service Popular Prices 
Vocal and Instrumental Music every Sunday 



Have you ever had the C^i^-j^^QnTQ Cafc, Hotcl ond Restaui'ant 

pleasure of dining at vJ vJiilldlll O 

East Side of White Plains Road, South of Pelham Parkway. Near Bronx Park, N. Y. C. 




Table d'hote 

from 1 2 I 
till 8:30 P. M. 
A la Carte 
till 1 1 P. M. 

Italian Table 
d'hote Din- 
ner and a la 
Carte 

Real Italian 
Spaghetti in 
Real Italian 
Style our 
Specialty 

A visit to 
SORMANI'S 

will leave 
pleasant recol- 
lections 

Telephone 
168 Williamsbridf 



TEL. TREMONT 843 



WM. M. TIVOLI 



MOHEGAN TAVERN 

HIGH CLASS CABARET 



178th 



SOUTHERN BOULEVARD 



. 179th otreet crotona parkway 

AND MOHEGAN AVENUE 

ONE BLOCK TO 177th and 180th ST. CROSSTOWN CARS 

Bronx, N. Y. 



large Hall Free for Smokers, Entertainmenls, and Receptions for Clubs 



Every Evening at 8 o'clock 



THE PARKS 65 

Somler house, the older portion dating back to the Revolution. 

Near Hawthorne Avenue, west of Valentine Lane, is the re- 
mains of Washington's chestnut, a gigantic tree over two centuries 
old, which, tradition says, Washington used as a place of ob- 
servation. 

At the corner of Hawthorne Avenue is the Lawrence house, 
where Washington stopped. This house was probably given to 
Lawrence as a reward for his services as guide. 

At Sycamore Avenue and Two Hundred and Fifty-third Street, 
one block south of the Morrisania mansion, stands the former home 
of Mark Twain, where he lived in 1901. 

Another interesting scene worth visiting in Van Cortlandt 
Park is the Indian Field at Two Hundred Thirty-seventh Street 
and Mount Vernon Avenue. On this plot lie the remains of Chief 
Nimham and seventeen Stockbridge Indians, who died on August 
31, 1778, fighting on the side of the patriots. The Indians put up a 
desperate resistance against the British Legion Dragoons, but were 
overmatched by superior numbers. Chief Nimham wounded Sim- 
coe, one of the British commanders but was himself killed by 
Wright, his orderly Hussar. A cairn, upon which has been fas- 
tened a bronze memorial tablet by the Bronx Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution, is a tribute worthy of 
that valorous band who gave their lives for liberty. It bears the 
following inscription: 

AUGUST 31, 1778. 

UPON THIS FIELD, 

CHIEF NIMHAM, 

AND SEVENTEEN STOCKBRIDGE INDIANS, 

AS ALLIES OF THE PATRIOTS, 

GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR LIBERTY. 



Erected by Bronx Chapter, 

Daughters of the American Revolution, 

Mount Vernon, New York. 

June 14, 1906. 

The Mosholu Parkway over 6,500 feet long and 600 feet wide 
leads direct from the Van Cortlandt to the Bronx Park. The 
grandeur and natural beauty of the Bronx Park is unsurpassed. 
The Zoological Park and the Botanical Gardens are the most com- 
plete, and are said to be the finest in the world. 



66 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



The Zoological Park is free to the public every day, except 
Mondays and Thursdays (if not holidays) when the admission fee 
is 25 cents. Almost every specimen of wild animal is to be found 
here amid surroundings as nearly like those of their native haunts 
as it is possible to create. 

The Botanical Gardens are alone worth a visit to the park, 




Indian Monument, Van Cortlandt Park 



and are a wonderland of trees, flowers, and shrubberies. The 
celebrated Hemlock Grove on the west bank of the Bronx River 
is a favorite resort of artists who find many an inspiring scene for 
brush or pencil. 

Other interesting points are: The Crystal Palace, the 100-ton 
Rocking Stone, and the Boars' Den, a natural cave in the rocks. 

Bronx Park was at one time the property of the Lorillards, 



THE PARKS 



67 



whose mansion still stands near the waterfall that ran the old 
snuff mill from which the family derived its fortune. During the 
Revolution it was the one place in the Colonies where snuff was 
manufactured. The manor-house has been renovated and turned 
into a museum by the Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences. The 
Lorillard Mansion Museum is open free to the public from 2 to 5 
p. m. It would thrill the heart of an antiquarian to see the varied 
exhibits, historical relics, and countless other curiosities. 




Elephant House, Bronx Park 



Thru a rocky chasm flows the romantic Bronx River, made 
famous by Lord North. His Lordship once remarked that Howe 
should have sailed his fleet up the Bronx River, and thus cut off 
Washington's retreat. Had Howe followed up this ludicrous 
order the British fleet would, no doubt, have remained there to 
this day. The Bronx River runs directly thru part of the park 
from north to south, varying in width from 50 to 400 feet. 

Crotona Park is situated in what is now one of the most popu- 
lous sections of the Borough, and with its ball fields, tennis courts, 
athletic fields, and Indian Lake, affords splendid recreation grounds 
for those living in its immediate neighborhood. Many improve- 
ments have been made in this park within the last few years. In 



«8 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



the northwest corner of the park stands the Borough Hall, erected 
in 1897. 

The land comprising Crotona Park constituted the Bathgate 
Farm. Alexander Bathgate, a Scotchman, who came to this coun- 
try early in the nineteenth century, was overseer on the farm of 
Gouverneur Morris, the First. He was frugal and thrifty, and 
he saved enough to purchase the farm from the second Gouverneur 
Morris. 




I 



"GuNDA," The Famous Elephant of Bronx Park Zoo 

Crotona Parkway, 100 feet wide, connects Crotona Park with 
Bronx Park. It was opened in 1910. 

Claremont Park is situated on very high natural ground and 
gives an extensive view of the surrounding territory on all sides. 
This was formerly known as the Zborowski Farm, which Martin 
Zborowski obtained as a dowry from the Morris family thru 
his marriage to Anna Morris. The headquarters of the Bronx Park 
Department is located in what was known as the Zborowski man- 
sion, a stone building erected in 1859, and is evidently on the site of 
an older building dating about 1676. Beyond is the famous Black 
Swamp, where cattle have been lost since the time of the Indians. 
For years it has defied the efforts of all contractors to fill it up. 



THE PARKS 



69 



Claremont Park is connected with Crotona Park by means of 
Wendover Avenue. A little north of Claremont Park are located 
the smaller parks, known as Echo Park, St. James Park and Poe 
Park. Poe Park is so named because adjacent to the park was the 
Poe Cottage, recently removed to the Park and where Edgar Allen 
Poe wrote many of his poems. Here, Virginia, his invalid wife, 
died and was buried from the Fordham Manor Dutch Reformed 
Church, Kingsbridge Road and Aqueduct Avenue. In Poe Park, 
directly opposite the cottage, there is a bust of Poe with an inscrip- 




BiKD Court, Bronx Park 



tion, erected by the Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences on the 
centenary of his birth, January 19th, 1909. In the Cromwell 
house near the Poe cottage lived an old lady who supplied Poe 
with the necessities of life during his deepest poverty. 

St. Mary's Park is situated at the southerly end of the Borough 
and was formerly a portion of the property of Gouverneur Morris, 
who lies buried in the churchyard of St. Ann's Church, within a 
few feet of the park. 

In the northwesterly end of the Borough are Franz Sigel 
Park, Macomb's Dam Park, University Park and Washington 
Bridge Park; all small but splendidly located, and adding much 
to the general beauty of the Borough. Franz Sigel Park, originally 



70 



THE BOROUGH OP THE BRONX 



called Cedar Park from the number of cedar trees growing there, 
was so renamed, in 1902, in memory of the heroic Civil War veteran 
who lived during the latter part of his life not far from Cedar Park. 
Recently some of the members of the North Side Board of 
Trade and The Bronx Industrial Bureau called, thru W. R. 
Messenger, the Secretary of the Bureau, a meeting of citizens in 




LoRiLLARD Mansion, Bronx Park 



the Morris High School to consider the organization of a society 
which should have for its object the preservation of the natural 
beauties of the Borough and the improvement of its home sur- 
roundings. A large and interested body of citizens responded to the 
call, and the meeting resulted in the organization of the Bronx- 
Beautiful Society. 

Among those urging its formation and indicating its tield of 
usefulness were the Hon. C. C. Miller, President of the Borough; 
Hon. Joseph A. Goulden, ex-member of Congress; Hon. Thomas 



THE PARKS 



71 



J. Higgins, Commissioner of Parks ; Chancellor Elmer E. Brown, 
of New York University; R. E. Simon, President of the Bronx 
Industrial Bui-eau ; E. B. Boynton, President of the American 
Realty Company ; Hon. James L. Wells, who was elected Presi- 
dent of the Society; Chancellor Brown became its Vice President; 
Hon. Joseph A. Goulden was made Chairman of the Executive 
Committee, and Charles F. Minor, manager of The Bronx branch 




Bathgate Homestead 



of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, became Treasurer, while 
W. R. Messenger was elected secretary. Other members of the 
Executive Committee were J. J. Amory, E. B. Boynton, Prof. Irvini 
Chaffee, William S. Germain, Rev. Thomas F. Gregg, Rev. W. H.. 
Kephart, Hon. F. D. Wilsey, R. E. Simon, W. R. Messenger, and 
Olin J. Stephens. To this committee have since been added Charles. 
Hilton Brown and Mrs. Miller, of Mount Hope. 




CHAPTER VIII 

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 

How the Future of the Child is Anticipated and the Schools Turn out the Men 
and Women of Tomorrow — Churches — How the Spiritual and Moral 
Welfare is looked After — Hospitals — Benevolent and Charitable Institu- 
tions — Cemeteries. 

N educational facilities The Bronx possesses all that 
can be desired. No civic institutions have been 
more zealously looked after by the municipality 
than the public schools. True, some of the lower 
grades have been necessarily put on part time be- 
cause of the enormous increase in population in the last 
two years; but many new schools are now in course of erection 
and the work is being pushed with all vigor so that in due time 
there will be a seat for every child in The Bronx. 

Search among the old records has failed to reveal just where 
and when the first school in the Borough was established. It was 
in a quaint little story-and-a-half schoolhouse once standing just 
east of the old Boston Post Road, now Third Avenue, and One 
Hundred Fifty-sixth Street that the gentry of the neighborhood, 
including the various branches of the Morris family, learned the 
rudiments of reading, writing, and ciphering. Bolton in his "His- 
tory of the County of Westchester" says that the first schoolhouse 
in Eastchester was erected in 1683, but it hardly seems possible 
that the burghers' children with their thirst for knowledge were 
so long without a school. 

In Westchester the English school was established and main- 
tained by the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts. The first schoolmaster of whom we have any rec- 
ord is Edward Fitzgerald who served in 1709. He seems to have 
taught in the school only provisionally, for in that year the Rev. 
John Bartow wrote to the Society recommending the appointment 
of Daniel Clark, the son of a clergyman, as schoolmaster. Mr. 
Clark served from 1710 to 1713, when he was succeeded by Charles 
Glover, who held the position until 1719. Mr. Glover was paid a 

72 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 73 

salary of eighteen pounds per annum, which was considered quite 
an income in those days. 

Mr. William Forster, who subsequently opposed Judge Lewis 
Morris in the election for representative in the Assembly, is next 
mentioned as the schoolmaster at Westchester. His remuneration 
was ten pounds per annum and a gratuity of ten pounds. 
He served until 1743, and the following year was succeeded 
by Mr. Basil Bartow, the son of the Rev. John Bartow, 
who held the position until 1762. There was a vacancy for 
two years which was filled by Mr. Nathaniel Seabury, a son 
of the Society's missionary at Hempstead, Long Island, and a 
brother of the Rev. Samuel Seabury, rector of the parish. The 
power of appointment had been vested by the Propagation Society 
in the rector; George Youngs succeeded Nathaniel Seabury in 1768, 
and served until 1772. There was a vacancy again for two years, 
and in 1774 Mr. Gott accepted the appointment and held the office 
until the Revolution. After the war the school passed from the 
authority of the church to that of the town. 

It was not, however, until 1874, when the Twenty-third and 
the Twenty-fourth Wards were annexed to New York City and 
the schools passed under the control of the Board of Education, 
that they developed to any degree of efficiency. 

Since the consolidation of the Greater City in 1897, the public 
school system in the Borough has reached its highest mark. From 
a small number of scattered schools with a few thousand pupils 
there has grown a school population of 86,000, housed in fifty ele- 
mentary school buildings and one secondary school. There is a class 
for crippled children in Public School No. 4 at Prospect Avenue 
and One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Street. They are transported 
to and from the school by means of two stages. Open-air classes 
are provided for enemic children, who are supplied with free 
lunches and sitting-out paraphernalia. 

Besides these schools there are within the Borough limits 
twenty parochial schools and the two great universities — New York 
and Fordham. 

The New York University, founded in 1831, ranks among the 
foremost institutions of learning in the United States. The 
founders had an idea of grandeur and beauty when they selected 
this spot for the celebrated college. It is charmingly situated on a 
forty-acre elevation on Fordham Heights and overlooks the Harlem 



74 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



and Hudson Rivers, as well as Long Island Sound. Its environ- 
ments are ideal and invigorating for the educational advantages 
and physical opportunities provided under the experienced and able 
supervision of Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Brown, Chancellor, and a 
most distinguished faculty. 

About five thousand students are distributed thru the fol- 




New York University 



lowing departments: College of Arts and Pure Science, Graduate 
School, School of Pedagogy, School of Commerce, Law School, and 
Medical College. 

Adjoining the Library Building is the "Hall of Fame," where 
are recorded on bronze tablets the names of America's immortals 
in science, literature, art, law, politics and other fields of noble 
endeavor. These names are selected by a committee of men who 
are themselves leaders in their respective professions, and who are 
thus best qualified to pass judgment upon such matters. 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 75 

The site of Fort Number Eight was acquired by the University 
in 1907. It is marked by a boulder inscribed: 

The Site 

OF 

Fort Number Eight 
1776-1783. 

Fordham University, established ten years later, has a wide- 
spread fame, and its students come from every quarter of the 
globe. The college is located in Fordham at the northern part of 
The Bronx. Since its inception, in 1841, it has been under the 
auspices of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus. No college thru- 
out the land is more thoro in its system of education than this, 
and no student gets his university degree until he has attained the 
high intellectual qualifications for which the university is noted. 

The university includes three departments: The Department 
of Philosophy and Arts, the Department of Medicine and the De- 
partment of Law. A school of Pharmacy was added last year, and 
Schools of Dentistry and Engineering will be established in 1914. 

At the corner of Fordham Road and Sedgwick Avenue, on 
the site of the Old Dutch Burial Ground, stands the imposing 
Webb's Academy and Home for Shipbuilders. It was founded and 
endowed by the eminent shipbuilder and naval architect, William 
Henry Webb, who is noted for his ship, the Dimderberg, built in 
1864 for the United States Government and afterwards sold it to 
France. The Academy gives young men. who are citizens of the 
United States and who pass the entrance examination, free instruc- 
tion in the science and the art of shipbuilding and marine engine 
building. It furnishes its students with board and lodging as well 
as with all of the necessary tools and materials. The Home affords 
free relief and support to aged, indigent, or unfortunate ship- 
builders or marine engine builders, as well as to their wives or 
widows. 

Other institutions of importance are : The Morris High School 
on Boston Road, Classen's Point Military Academy, and the Convent 
Schools and Academies of Mount St. Vincent, St. Joseph, St. 
Jerome, St. Martin of Tours, and Mount St. Ursula. 

The spiritual and moral welfare of the community is looked 
after by one hundred and seventy-seven churches, made up of the 
following denominations : Baptist, 13 ; Congregational, 6 ; Disciples 



76 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



of Christ, 2 ; Jewish, 12 ; Lutheran, 23 ; Methodist, 26 ; Moravian,! ; 
Presbyterian, 17 ; Protestant Episcopal, 25 ; Reformed Church of 
America, 9 ; Reformed Episcopal, 1 ; Seventh Day Adventists, 3 ; 
Roman Catholic, 38, and United Presbyterian, 1. 

Accessory to these are many charitable and benevolent insti- 
tutions, as well as hospitals and free dispensaries. In these the 
wants of the needy are looked after and the sick are admitted free. 




MoRKis High School 



if too poor to pay for treatment. On the staffs of these hospitals 
are many distinguished physicians and surgeons who receive large 
fees in private practice, but who, as humanitarians, give their 
time and service to the poor without remuneration. 

There are ten hospitals in The Bronx, three of which have 
ambulance service answering all calls in the Borough. Fordham 
Hospital, established in 1882, is under the charge of the Board of 
Trustees of Bellevue and Allied Hospitals. It is not only the 
busiest hospital, but it covers more territory than any of the other 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 77 

institutions; its ambulance district reaches from East One Hun- 
dred Seventieth Street to City Island. The hospital is admirably 
situated at Southern Boulevard and Crotona Avenue and faces the 
Bronz Zoological Park. An excellent corps of physicians and 
surgeons treat an average of one hundred and sixty patients a day. 
There are one hundred and fifty beds distributed in six wards, 
and in all there are accommodations for five hundred patients. 

Reposing upon the rocky heights at Cauldwell and Westchester 
Avenues is Lebanon Hospital, formerly the Ursuline Convent. Al- 
tho incorporated in 1890 by Jewish philanthropists its doors are 
open to all, regardless of nationality or creed. Connected with 
the hospital is a free dispensary and a splendid training school 
for nurses. 

For the eight months preceding December 31st, 1912, 2,593 
patients were treated in the hospital. In addition the ambulance 
service responded to 1,639 calls, of which 1,436 were accident cases 
that were taken to the hospital for treatment. During the same 
period 27,309 patients were treated in the dispensary free of 
charge. 

The hospital is maintained partly by voluntary subscription 
and donations, and partly by the city. Its ambulance territory is 
from One Hundred Forty-ninth to One Hundred Seventieth Streets. 

Lincoln Hospital, at East One Hundred Forty-first Street and 
Concord Avenue, was originally incorporated in 1845, as a colored 
home and hospital. In 1901 it was opened to the general public 
and an ambulance service was added, covering the territory from 
Harlem River to One Hundred Forty-ninth Street. It provides 
separate buildings for consumptive and maternity patients, and a 
detached pavilion for persons afflicted with infectious diseases. It 
has also a home for the aged, infirm and destitute colored people 
of both sexes; a home for incurables; and a training school for 
colored nurses. The hospital has a capacity of four hundred beds. 
It is supported by voluntary subscriptions, donations and bequests. 

St. Joseph's Hospital for consumptives, a Roman Catholic 
institution, is located at St. Ann's and Brook Avenues, 
East One Hundred Forty-third and One Hundred Forty-fourth 
Streets. It was established in 1882, and is in charge of the Sisters 
of the Poor of Saint Francis, a German order. During 1912, over 
2,000 patients were treated here irrespective of nationality or 
religious denomination. The hospital has five hundred beds which 



78 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

are constantly occupied by sufferers in all stages of the "Great 
White Plague." 

Seton Hospital at Spuyten Duyvil is another fine institution 
where tuberculous patients are treated irrespective of race or 
creed. Its location is ideal. Overlooking the Hudson and Harlem 
Rivers, it embraces an area of twenty-eight acres. The hospital 
was named after Mother Elizabeth Baily Seton, the founder of 
the Sisters of Charity in the United States. It was incorporated 
m 1892 and opened in 1895 by Sister Mary Irene of the Sisters of 
Charity, under whose management it is conducted. The main 
building, formerly the Whiting mansion, which is used exclusively 
for men, accommodates two hundred patients. The House of 
Nazareth, a branch of this hospital, is used for the accommodation 
of women and children, and has a capacity of two hundred. 

St. Francis Hospital occupies the entire block between One 
Hundred Forty-second and One Hundred Forty-third Streets and 
Brook and St. Ann's Avenues, and is under the direct charge of 
the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis ; the same denomination as 
that having charge of St. Joseph's Hospital. It is one of the 
Borough's largest and most modern charity hospitals and treats 
diseases of all kinds. The institution has over four hundred beds 
at the disposal of patients regardless of sect or nationality. For 
the treatment of non-paying poor it is reimbursed by the City. 

Union Hospital is located in the old Eden mansion, formerly 
occupied by Fordham Hospital, at No. 2456 Valentine Avenue, 
corner of One Hundred Eighty-eighth Street. It is a general hos- 
pital for the treatment of all ailments and has many prominent 
physicians connected with it. It is maintained entirely by volun- 
tary contributions and membership in the Union Hospital Asso- 
ciation, and receives patients of all creeds, sects or nationalities. 
During the first year of its existence over five hundred surgical 
operations were performed by its surgeons including the most 
severe and difficult. 

Riverside Hospital, on North Brother Island, is a city institu- 
tion for the isolation of contagious and infectious diseases. It has 
accommodations for five hundred patients. Its ideal location on 
the Sound is one of the factors that help to efl["ect many cures; it 
is under the charge of Bellevue and Allied Hospitals. 

The Home for Incurables, on Third Avenue between One Hun- 
dred Eighty-first Street and One Hundred Eighty-fourth Sti'eets, 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 79 

is one of the oldest institutions in The Bronx. It originated in 
1866 in a small rented house in West Farms, the Old Jacob Lo- 
rillard mansion ; but it rapidly outgrew its limited accommodations. 
Thru the generosity of the late Catherine Lorillard Wolfe, the 
spacious grounds upon which the institution now stands were 
deeded to the Home in 1873. During the forty-six years of its 
existence 3,261 patients of both sexes suffering from "incurable" 
diseases, not contagious nor infectious, have found a home there. 
Of this number two per cent have left the institution cured, while 
1,019 were discharged for various reasons. There are at present 
about 286 invalids in the Home. 

At its new quarters No. 459 East One Hundred Forty-first 
Street, the Bronx Eye and Ear Infirmary has been doing excellent 
work for the last nine years. Persons sufl:"ering from diseases of 
the eye, ear, nose or throat who are unable to pay for professional 
services are accorded free treatment at the infirmary. They have 
now also opened a dental clinic. 

A new Bronx Hospital is to be erected in the neighborhood of 
Kingsbridge Road and Sedgwick Avenue. It will be on the style 
of Fordham Hospital, with excellent ambulance service, and is to 
be directly connected with Bellevue and the allied hospitals. 

In addition to the hospitals already mentioned, there are many 
church and private .societies who supply medicine and medical as- 
sistance to the poor and needy. 

Among the benevolent and charitable in.stitutions, the New 
York Catholic Protectory, situated on Walker Avenue and the 
Unionport Road in Westchester, ranks as the largest. It was 
founded in 1863, and since its doors opened it has sheltered and 
educated approximately 50,000 wayward and destitute juveniles. 
Like all truly great religious and benevolent enterprises, its be- 
ginning was small, but the field was so large and worthy that many 
prominent men were influenced to aid Archbishop Hughes and the 
Brothers of the Christian Schools in this great charity work. The 
present site at Westchester, covering an area of 114 acres, was 
purchased June 9th, 1865, and cost $40,000. 

There are three classes admitted to this institution — those 
under fourteen years of age, who, with the written consent of 
their parents or guardians, may be intru.sted to it for protection or 
reformation ; those between seven and sixteen years of age com- 
mitted as idle, truant, vicious or homeless by order of a magistrate ; 



80 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

and those of a like age transferred by the Department of Public 
Charities. The boys, in charge of the Christian Brothers of the 
Catholic Church, receive a general school education and are taught 
trades, such as printing, electrotyping, bookbinding, shoe, brush, 
harness, and paper box making, baking, farming, tailoring, chair 
caning, brick laying, plumbing, telegraphy, blacksmithing, wheel- 
wrighting, carpentering, painting, drawing, etc. 

The girls, under the tutelage of the Society of St. Vincent de 
Paul, also receive a general school education and are taught ma- 
chine sewing, typewriting, cooking, laundry work, telegraphy and 
music. The famous Protectory Band has won an enviable reputa- 
tion in the musical world and is a great credit to the institution. 

The Peabody Home for Aged and Indigent Women at Boston 
Road and One Hundred Seventy-ninth Street was founded in 1874, 
and is a free and non-sectarian institution for white women over 
sixty-five years of age. The Home is supported entirely by volun- 
tary subscriptions and accommodates about thirty-five. 

The Home for the Friendless at Jerome and Woodycrest Ave- 
nues, opposite Macomb's Dam Park, was opened in 1902, and 
aims to save from degradation, friendless and neglected children ; 
boys under ten and girls under fourteen. It is under the control 
of the American Female Guardian Society. After being legally 
surrendered to the society, they are transferred by adoption to 
Christian families who, upon investigation, can give satisfactory 
assurance that they will provide good homes for the children. 

Other philanthropic institutions are: The Roman Catholic 
Orphan Asylum at Fordham Heights ; The Hebrew Infant Asylum ; 
St. Philip's Parish House, and Webb's Academy and Home for 
Shipbuilders, mentioned elsewhere in another connection. 

The New York Public Library absorbed in 1904 the Bronx Free 
Library and maintains five branches in beautiful Carnegie Build- 
ings, where books and periodicals are loaned to young and old, 
and where reference and reading rooms accommodate scholars and 
students. The libraries are located at 321 East One Hundred 
Fortieth Street, 78 West One Hundred Sixty-eighth Street, 610 East 
One Hundred Sixty-ninth Street, 1866 Washington Avenue, and 
3041 Kingsbridge Avenue. 

It is a natural phase of human existence that a city's cemeteries 
expand in numbers and dimensions in direct ratio to the city's 
increase in size and population. 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 81 

Foremost in The Bronx is Woodlawn Cemetery, at Woodlawn. 
It was incorporated in 1863 and covers four hundred acres of ele- 
vated, sloping lands that display the height of the landscape 
gardener's art and is one of the most picturesque burying grounds 
in the world. It is situated on the westerly side of the Bronx River, 
and extends to East Two Hundred Twenty-third Street. 

The grounds are divided by countless pathways, walks and 
avenues, and the contrast of the hundreds of marble and granite 
columns, monuments and mausoleums against the rich, green 
lawns affords a rare picture. Trees of great age and splendor, beds 
of flowers and plants and the green beds of ivy that almost hide 
many of the grey-white tombs add to the delicious richness of the 
spot. 

Representatives of some of the most prominent families in 
New York have tombs there. Most notable are: The Appletons, 
Goulds, Vanderbilts, Lorillards, Choates, Corbins, Crosbys, But- 
terfields, Dillons, Flaglers, Havemeyers, Sloans, and Whitneys. The 
remains of Lieut. De Long, and Jospeh Pulitzer are also interred 
there. Lieut. De Long's body, with those of his comrades, were 
brought from the Arctic regions and interred on Chapel Hill 
Avenue. 

One of the most imposing of the monuments in the cemetery 
is that of our first admiral, David Glasgow Farragut, who was 
buried here in 1870. The shaft is of fine white marble in the 
shape of a portion of a ship's mast, at the foot of Avhich are 
nautical paraphernalia, a sword and symbolic shields. The inscrip- 
tion reads: 

Erected 

By his Wife and Son 

To THE Memory of 

DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT, 

First Admiral of the United States Navy* 

Born July 5, 1801, 

Died August 14, 1870. 

Bensonia Cemetery, altho now a neglected, barren tract of 
land known on the City Map as the "Public Place at Rae Street," 
was once a picturesque burial ground, in a lovely section of Mor- 
risania, densely shaded by elms, poplar and evergreen trees. The 
land was purchased in 1853 by Robert H. Elton, who laid out what 



82 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

he termed the "House Territory of Bensonia." About three years 
later it came into the possession of James L. Parsball who enlarged 
its boundaries so that it extended from Rae Street on the south to 
Carr Street on the north. 

In 1868 the trustees of Moi-risania forbade further inter- 
ments within its limits, and henceforth the cemetery has been neg- 
lected. A new street, St. Ann's Avenue, was laid out so as prac- 
tically to cut the burial ground in two, and the bodies thus un- 
earthed were removed to other cemeteries. 

The extreme southeasterly section of Bensonia Cemetery was 
bought half a century ago by the Sons of Liberty, and here rest 
over 150 of its members. But the brave soldiers of the Civil War 
who were buried have not a tablet to indicate their resting places. 

In his police history. Inspector Byrnes states that the ghouls 
who robbed the grave of A. T. Stewart temporarily hid his remains 
in this sequestered spot, and no one can accurately say whether his 
body rests under his costly mausoleum at Garden City. 

Efforts have been made to have the City convert the Bensonia 
Cemetery into a public park, but as yet without success. It is 
hoped that in the near future the tract known as the "Public 
Place at Rae Street," will be transferred into a beautiful breathing 
place. 

St. Raymond's Cemetery on the Fort Schuyler Road in West- 
chester is used exclusively by the Roman Catholics. It embraces 
eighty-six acres and has many beautiful and imposing monuments. 




CHAPTER IX 

OAK POINT 

The "Cradle of Cuban Liberty" — Wreck of the British Frigate Hussar. 

'F the future prosperity of Bronx Park depends 
upon the productive and commercial activities of 
its people, its success is assured, for no city in the 
world has such natural or economic advantages. 
What has been done in the way of improvements 
is small compared to what is projected for the near fu- 
ture. New arteries of travel are to connect every section of the 
Borough with Manhattan. With the tri-borough subway under 
construction, and other local facilities for transportation extended, 
an efficient municipal and borough administration to push the 
work ahead, The Bronx has indeed a bright and glorious future. 
So fast have events crowded one upon another since the days 
of Jonas Bronck, that the Borough's historic surroundings are 
rapidly being lost sight of. 

One of the most conspicuous landmarks that was swept away 
by the 1906 land boom was the Casanova mansion, known as the 
"Cradle of Cuban Liberty." For years this famous structure had 
been standing a quaint, gray spectre at Oak Point, neglected and 
untenanted, and without a sign of life about, save the New Haven 
and Hartford freight station a quarter of a mile away. 

The mansion was built in 1859 by Benjamin M. Whitlock, a 
wealthy grocer of New York, on a property consisting of fifty 
acres. The building cost $350,000 when completed, and was the 
most imposing residence above the Harlem at that time. It is 
said that the door knobs were made of solid gold. As a carriage 
approached the gates of the estate the horses stepped on a hidden 
spring causing the gates to fly open ; and the house had secret 
underground passages. The house contained one hundred rooms 
and the beauty in the decoration of these rooms has not been sur- 
passed to this day. 

83 



84 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



The mansion was known as "Whitlock's Folly," and the name 
clung to the place until the building was destroyed. In 1867, after 
the death of Mr. Whitlock, his widow sold the house to Senor 
Yglesias Casanova, a wealthy Cuban sugar and coffee planter, for 
$150,000. Senor Casanova was a leader of a band of Cuban pa- 
triots, and during the early struggles of the Cuban people for 
liberty, this place was the rendezvous of Cuban patriots and sym- 
pathizers. It is said that the cellars and subterranean passages 




I 




Casanova Mansion 



were stored with powder and rifles which eventually found their 
way into the hands of the patriots in Havana and other Cuban 
cities. An underground passage had been made, running from 
the house to the Sound, and under cover of darkness boats, which 
were undoubtedly filibusters, were occasionally seen to steal into 
the little cove that the mansion overlooked; and, after being 
freighted with ammunition and other implements of war, to creep 
out again as mysteriously as they had entered. 

After the suppression of the first Cuban revolution, Casanova, 
whose loyalty to his country never waned, became down-hearted, 
and the mansion that for many years had been the scene of revelry 



OAK POINT 85 

and likewise of social functions, ceased to be occupied. Mr. Casa- 
nova moved to New Orleans, and the house began to fall into 
decay for want of care and attention. 

When the war was declared between this country and Spain, 
Mr. Cosanova was an aged man. It is said that he returned to 
Spain where he died. 

Just prior to the demolition of the building, the author had 
occasion to visit it. The once magnificent old structure appeared 
in a pitifully dilapidated state. The grounds surrounding it were 
overrun with rank weeds and other unsightly growth. The mas- 
sive bronze doors, with their Spanish coat-of-arms, turned heavily 
upon their squeaky hinges, as if reluctant to admit the feet of 
common mortals. 

As one entered the dimly lighted hall, he seemed to be stepping 
into the shadows of former ages, for everything looked so sombre 
and sepulchral. An unnatural hollow sound echoed and reverber- 
ated thru the spacious hall as one's footsteps fell upon the marble 
floor. 

A hasty glance thru the rooms left one amazed at the 
elaborate beauty of the architecture. The decorations of each 
apartment were difl'erent, there being no two rooms alike. Some 
had panelled ceilings and walls, others were richly decorated in 
fleur-de-lis and other floral designs, with heavy carved woodwork 
of cherry and oak. So artistically and sumptuously were they 
fashioned that one was fascinated with their grandeur. 

There were numerous stairways leading to the cellar, some of 
which were rather risky to descend, as they wei'e narrow and 
dark. The cellar was strewn with old rubbish, and on the south 
side of the building there was a large kitchen. A rusty iron oven, 
a three-legged stool and an old wooden table upon which stood 
several broken dishes, were the only furnishings of the room. The 
place was musty and malodorous and shrouded in darkness. With 
the aid of a lantern the old tunnel was located. It was choked up 
with dirt and rubbish, but there was enough of it exposed to give 
a fair conception of what it had once been. On either side of the 
tunnel were half a dozen cells built of solid rock with heavy iron 
hinges riveted to both the floors and walls. To what use they 
could have been put can only be surmised. Could they speak what 
tales they might have unfolded! 

Off Port Morris is the deepest water in the vicinity of Ne v 



86 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



York. The Great Eastern made her first anchorage here on her 
maiden trip to New York, having come in by way of the Sound. 

Close by is Pot Rock where the British frigate-of-war Hussar 
sank with one hundred and seven men on board. The vessel 
reached New York from England on September 13, 1780, carrying 




Subterranean Passage and Cells 



American prisoners and laden with a mass of gold, silver and cop- 
per coin with which to pay off the British forces in the Colonies. 
Rumors having reached the English Admiralty that New York City 
was about to fall into the hands of the Americans, the Hussar was 
given orders to sail up the Sound to Newport. But it struck in 
the vicinity of North Brother Island and Port Morris on the 23rd 
of November, 17P0. 

It was said that she carried to the bottom with her not only 



OAK POINT 



87 



her own treasure but also three hundred and eighty thousand 
pounds which had been transferred from the Mercury; another 
British vessel. Numerous futile attempts have been made since 
1818 to recover the treasure, and over a quarter of a million dollars 
have been sunk in the endeavors. In 1819 her guns and upper 
sheathing were brought to light. One treasure-seeker unearthed 
from the wreck fifteen guineas, a number of relics, including some 
beer mugs, inscribed "George III. Rex." and a cannon now in the 
museum of Worcester, Mass. Copper rivets of the prisoners' mana- 




Leggett's Lane 



cles, projectiles, and parts of the ship's woodwork have also been 
found. 

Finally Secretary Gresham of the New York State Depart- 
ment exploded the myth of the lost treasure. He examined closely 
the report of the Admiralty Office and the logs of the Hussar and 
the Mercury, but found no mention of any treasure. A report of 
Fletcher Betts, an officer of the Hussar, was discovered which 
stated that there had been twenty thousand pounds in gold on 
the Hussar, but that two days before the disaster the money had 
been delivered to the Commissary General at New York; Betts 
himself having assisted in the transfer. 

Near the Longwood Club House at Southern Boulevard and 



88 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Leggett Avenue, formerly Leggett's Lane, is the site of a Revolu- 
tionary cave. There was a skirmish close by between the British 
and the Americans, and the patriots were forced to flee. They car- 
ried their dead along with them, and when they reached this cave 
they hastily concealed the corpses of their comrades. 



One of the SHOW PLACES of the Bronx 




y ?n 



I' 






I 



HUNT'S POINT PLAZA COMMUNITY BUILDING 

163d STREET AND SOUTHERN BOULEVARD 

JAMES F. MEEHAN, Architect, Builder and Owner 



his magnificent structure, designed and erected by its owner, James F. Meehau' 
Hi the prominent architect, is indeed a "community" of itself. It contains: 

Many Showy Shops, connected by brilliantly lighted and artistie- 
|Jly decorated arcades where the wares of leading merchants are displayed; 
I Palm Garden with domed ceiling and many white be-decked tables 
'almost hidden by tropical verdure, and where a string orchestra adds to 
'the delight of the diners; 
' The Beautiful Theatre, in which 2000 persons can be seated; 

The Roof Garden, high above the hot streets, where gentle breezes 
'cool and refresh one and add so materially to the comfort of the patrons; 

The Ball Room, finished in white and gold, with balcony and loges, 
with neither pillar nor column to obstruct the view; 

i The Banquet Hall, especially equipped for dinner-dances, the Bil- 
iliard Rooms, Cafes, Private Banquet Rooms, Club and Lodge Rooms and 
ffice accommodations for various professional men and women. 

One of the important features of the building is its accessibility 

The Hunts Point Plaza is destined to become one of the greatest shop- 
ing, social and theatre centers of New York City, being at the junction 
f three very important arteries of transit, 163rd Street, Southern Boule- 
jvard and Hunts Point Avenue. Each of these thoroughfares is 100 feet wide. 
The handsome new station of the New York, New Haven and Hartford 
[Railroad recently completed, which will be also used by the New York, 
Boston and Westchester Railroad at this point, is one short block distant. 
While the Hun ts Point Station will be an express stop of the new Lexing- 
ton Avenue subway. 



2964 
TELEPHONES TREMONT 

2965 



BRONX TAXI CAB CO 

BOSTOI^ ]ROiVD a^H AOE 

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NEAR McKINLEY SQUARE 



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Telephone Tremont 5175 




CHAPTER X 

HUNT'S POINT 

Colonial and Revolutionary Days — The Story of Joseph Rodman Drake — A 
Visit to "God's Little Acre." 

NE by one the old landmarks of The Bronx are disap- 
pearing. The few that have been preserved are worth 
more than a casual inspection. There are few places 
^^^^^^^^ in the Borough about which cluster so many interest- 
ing and historical reminiscences of the Colonial and 
Revolutionary periods as the Hunt's Point section. A few years 
ago, there were many- of these early landmarks standing, but the 
region is changing rapidly ; the old sites giving way to bright, new 
bricks and mortar. 

On April 25, 1666, Edward Jessup and John Richardson ob- 
tained from Governor Nicolls a patent for certain lands, now 
known as the West Farms Patent; they having previously, on 
March 12, 1663, purchased the Indian rights. These lands lay 
along the west bank of the Bronx River, bounding "to the midst of 
the said river" running from the Fordham line south to the Sea 
or East River, and westerly to a little brook called Sackwrahimg, 
or Bungay Creek, which ran along about where Intervale Avenue 
is now located. 

On obtaining possession of this patented land, Jessup and 
Richardson set aside two home plots, each consisting of thirty 
acres of upland and eight acres of meadow. These were located 
on the old Hunt's Poiiit Road just south of the present Lafayette 
Avenue. The Dickey and Spofford properties on the east of the 
old road, include within their bounds Richardson's thirty acres 
and most of the two meadow parcels. This home-lot vested, in 
1679, in Gabriel Leggett, thru his wife Elizabeth, a daughter 
of Richardson, and remained in a branch of the Leggett family 
down to 1836. It was known as Barretto's Point. 

Historians give but meagre information regarding John Rich- 
ardson, but speak of Edward Jessup as a most remarkable man, 

89 



90 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

not because he was a magistrate and a large land owner, or be- 
cause he sprang from an ancient and illustrious English family; 
but, because he was a brave, daring, upright man, full of restless 
energy, and the recognized champion of the colonists. Among 
his neighbors, he was popularly known as Goodman Jessup, and 
in 1665, he was one of Westchester's two delegates sent to the 
Convention of Towns held in Hempstead, Long Island — the first 
representative and deliberative body that assembled in the Colony. 

In that convention Jessup boldly advocated the right of the 
people to elect their own magistrates, instead of having those 
officers selected and appointed by the King. 

This convention is referred to by historians as the precursor 
of the elective judiciary system of our State — a system which has 
been aptly described as "the growth of the soil." 

Edward Jessup was the progenitor of a family who became 
distinguished in the annals of our country, and among whom was 
Major General Thomas Sidney Jessup, a hero of the War of 1812, 
and of the Mexican War, and who was prominently mentioned as 
a Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States. 

Edward Jessup, on his death in 1666, devised his interest in 
the patent to Elizabeth Jessup, his widow. She married one 
Robert Meacham in 1668, and they in the same year conveyed the 
Jessup interest in the patent to her son-in-law, Thomas Hunt, Jr., 
who married Elizabeth Jessup, the daughter of Edward Jessup. 
It was after this Thomas Hunt, the son of Thomas Hunt of the 
Grove Farm Patent, that Hunt's Point received its name. 

In 1669 Hunt sold his home lot on which he then resided, 
and built on a parcel of land at the north end of what is now 
Barretto's Point, near the old Landing Road. Around this section 
we find the early houses were erected. 

Later, Richardson or Leggett, Richardson's son-in-law, erected 
a house west of the old Hunt's Point Road, south of the present 
Spoff'ord Avenue, and near Bound Brook, on the land which also 
was acquired by the Leggett branch, and in which Gabriel Leggett, 
the second, lived, dying there about 1786. This property also 
remained in the possession of the Leggett family down to 1850. 

Richardson and Hunt entered upon and cultivated parts of 
the present Hunt's Point. Richardson used a parcel of about 
twenty acres of upland at its southerly end along the Sound, 
probably as a cornfield, and both cut the meadows on the east side 



HUNT'S POINT 91 

of the Point; Richardson cutting the upper, and Hunt the lower 
end. 

It would appear that disputes soon arose between them as to 
their occupations of the Point, and to settle the same they ap- 
pointed four commissioners in 1669 to adjust the differences and 
make a division of the lower end of the patented lands. This the 
commissioners did, awarding Richardson the twenty acres so oc- 
cupied by him, and sixteen acres of meadow, cut by him at the 
northwest corner of Hunt's Point, and Barretto's Point on the 
west, which last mentioned point they called in their report the 
"Long Neck"; while they awarded to Hunt all the rest of Hunt's 
Point, which they called the "Cornfield Neck," and certain 
meadows at its upper end. 

The old Hunt's Point Road, which ran thru the middle 
of the patent down and into the Point was no doubt opened first 
at its lower end and used by Hunt and Richardson, while the old 
Landing Road which branched from it and ran into the Barretto's 
Point, or "Long Neck" lands, traces of which are still visible at 
its junction with the Hunt's Point Road, was opened prior to 1700. 

About 1700 Thomas Hunt's eldest son, Thomas, acquired the 
Richardson twenty acres at the south end, and his father's interest 
in the rest of the Point, which was then and for many years 
thereafter called the "Planting Neck." The Indian name was 
Quinnahung. This property remained in this branch of the Hunt 
family down to the middle of the last century. 

While mentioning the names of "Cornfield Neck" and "Plant- 
ing Neck," we might incidentially call attention, as a matter of 
historical information, to names given other parts of the Point; 
for instance, the "Little Neck" which lay along the old Hunt's 
Point Road, at the upper end of the Point east of the BarrettO' 
Homestead. On this road at the upper end of the Little Neck, 
about 250 feet north of the Eastern Boulevard, was the old gate or 
entrance to the Hunt property on Hunt's Point. Alongside of the 
old road, and just west of the angle where it turns toward the Hunt 
and Leggett cemetery, is an old well nearly filled in, which was 
probably the old well known as "Richardson's well," while on the 
east side of the Point, near the easterly end of the Eastern Boule- 
vard, is a district, known for 200 years as the "Fox Hills," which 
probably derived its name from the fact that it was at one time 
a fox haunt. 



92 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

In 1680 Hunt and Richardson arranged for a division of the 
upper end of the patent into twelve great lots, but before the divi- 
sion was completed Richardson died. In 1681 Hunt and Richard- 
son's widow, who acted on behalf of Richardson's heirs, completed 
the division by drawing lots, each taking six lots. Hunt divided 
his six, except one which he sold, among his sons and grandson. 
The tract was therefore called the "Twelve Farms" as well as 
West Farms. 

Edward Jessup had three children: Elizabeth, who married 
Thomas Hunt, the second, about 1662; Hannah and Edward, the 
latter two probably by a second wife. There is much confusion 
in the old records with reference to Elizabeth Jessup, wife of Ed- 
ward Jessup, and Elizabeth Jessup, daughter of Edward Jessup. 
There is a deed extant, dated June 20th, 1668, recording the pur- 
chase by Thomas and Elizabeth Hunt from "Robert Beachem and 
Elizabeth, formerly the wife of Edward Jessup." 

John Richardson also had three children : Berthia, who mar- 
ried John Ketcham ; Mary, who became the wife of Joseph Hadley ; 
and Elizabeth, who was espoused to Gabriel Leggett. 

Thomas and Elizabeth Hunt are the progenitors of a large 
family scattered all over the United States. Gabriel and Elizabeth 
Leggett are the ancestors of the Leggett, Fox and Tiffany families 
of West Farms. 

Mrs. Richardson afterwards, in or about July, 1683, married 
Captain Thomas Williams, and on her death the Richardson inter- 
est, consisting of the Legget, Hadley and Ketcham families, in 
1695, divided their interests in the patent among themselves. 

At the southern end of Hunt's Point, the old "Grange" was 
«rected, which still stands as a mute memorial of those Colonial 
days. This famous old structure, which has withstood the storms 
of over two centuries, and in which generations have lived and 
died, is fast falling into decay for want of repairs and attention. 
For years this picturesque relic of bygone days has been the chief 
attraction at Hunt's Point, but its inevitable downfall, when some 
factory or dwelling will later take its place, is but a few years 
distant. 

There is much romance woven about this quaint building. 
During the struggle for independence, it was occupied by Thomas 
Hunt, the fourth, the grandfather of Montgomery Hunt, a noted 
financier, and a Presidential Elector in 1816, who voted for James 



HUNT'S POINT 



93 



Monroe for President, and who was the father of that eminent 
jurist, Judge Ward Hunt of the Court of Appeals of the State 
and of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Thomas Hunt, the fourth, was a patriot and a staunch ad- 
herent of the principles which his great-grandfather had embodied 
in the Charter of Liberties in 1683. He was prominent in all 
affairs pertaining to the separation of the Colonies from the Mother 
Country. He was an influential member of the Committee of 
Safety, and was instrumental in organizing the West Farms and 
Fordham Company of Minute Men, in which no less than seven 




-3S«^:; 



""^^1 



Hunt's Mansion 



members of his own family enlisted. During the Revolution he 
espoused the American cause. He was the friend and confidant 
of Washington, who relied implicitly upon his calm judgment, his 
patriotic courage, and his thoro knowledge of the country. 

The British frigate Asia was kept at anchor in the Sound near 
his home. His estate was devastated and his family driven from 
their home. One of the cannon balls, which was embedded in the 
west brick wall, where it lodged until a few years ago, is now in 
the writer's possession. 

There appears to be much doubt among historians as to the 



94 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



exact age of the old mansion. One historian gives the date of its 
erection as 1688, while others give much later years. 

Thomas Hunt, Sr., on conveying the "Planting Neck" prop- 
erty to his son Thomas in 1698, and again executing a deed in 
1718 — shortly after which he died — mentions his new dwelling 
and orchard containing three acres. 

Traditions are numerous regarding the building of the old 
mansion. It is said that when Hunt first began to erect the build- 
ing, lumber commanded a very high price, as a result of a heavy 
tax which had been levied upon building material, and he decided 
to construct his of stone, of which there was an abundance in 



••> 


■ ■ ? 

1 


I^^H 



Relics Found in Hunt's Mansion 



the neighborhood. Hardly had he put up the west wall, however, 
when the tax was removed and he completed the building with 
lumber. The girders and rafters used in its construction were 
hewn from solid oak, while the laths used in the interior walls, 
rough and irregular, were made of strips of ash. The chimneys 
were built of the bricks brought over as ballast by the Dutch 
traders. The ceilings are low, and the closets with which each 
room is supplied open in two parts. The open fireplace in the 
living room, without which no old mansion was perfect, is 
crumbling away with age and is no longer used. Across the hall- 
way is the kitchen. The last occupant replaced the Dutch oven 
by a modern stove. 



HUNT'S POINT 95 

The upper chambers are reached by a narrow but substantial 
stairway. The tower, which gives the house the appearance of a 
fort, is reached by a spiral stairway from the living room. It is 
so narrow that only one person at a time can ascend it. This was 
apparently so constructed as a safeguard in emergency, should 
admittance be gained within the house by the wily Indians who 
frequently made attacks upon it. 

For many years the "Grange" was the residence of Joseph 
Rodman Drake, the poet who won immortal fame as the author of 
"The American Flag" and "Culprit Fay." It was this gifted 
young poet who celebrated the rural beauties of The Bronx in some 
of his most charming verse: 

The Bronx 

I sat me down upon a green bank side. 

Skirting the smooth edge of a gentle river, 
Whose waters seemed unwilling to glide, 

Like parting friends, who linger while they sever; 
Enforced to go, yet seeming still unready, 
Backward they wind their way in many a wistful eddy. 

Gray o'er my head the yellow-vested willow 

Ruffled its hoary top in the fresh breezes. 
Glancing in light, like spray on a green billow. 

Or the fine frost work which young winter freezes. 
When first his power in infant pastime trying, 
Congeals sad autumn's tears on the dead branches lying. 

From rocks around hung the loose ivy dangling. 

And in the clefts sumach of liveliest green. 
Bright rising-stars the little beach was spangling, 
The gold-cap sorrel from his gauzy screen. 
Shone like a fairy, enchased and beaded. 
Left on some morn, when light flash'd in their eyes unheeded. 

The hum-bird shook his sun-touched wings around, 

The blue-finch carolled in the still retreat; 
The antic squirrel capered on the ground, 
Where lichens made a carpet for his feet. 
Thro' the transparent waves, the ruddy minkle 
Shot up in glimmering sparks, his red fins tiny twinkle. 



96 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

There were the dark cedars, with loose mossy tresses, 

White-powder'd dog trees, and stiff hollies flaunting. 
Gaudy as rustics in their May-day dresses, 
Blue pellorets from purple leaves upslanting 
A modest gaze, like eyes of a young maiden 
Shining beneath dropp'd lids the evening of her wedding. 

The breeze fresh springing from the lips of morn, 

Kissing the leaves, and sighing so to lose 'em, 
The winding of the merry locust's horn. 

The glad sighs spring gushing from the rock's bare bosom. 
Sweet sighs, sweet sounds, all sights, all sounds excelling;. 
Oh ! 'twas a ravishing spot, form'd for a poet's dwelling. 

And I did leave thy loveliness, to stand 

Again in the dull world of earthly blindness, 
Pain'd with the pressure of unfriendly hands. 
Sick of smooth looks, agued with icy kindness; 
Left I for this thy shades, where none intrude. 
To prison wandering thought and mar sweet solitude. 

Yet I will look upon thy face again 

My own romantic Bronx, and it will be 
A face more pleasant than the face of men. 
Thy waves are old companions, I shall see 
A well-remembered form in each old tree, 
And hear a voice long loved in thy wild minstrelsy. 

Joseph Rodman Drake was born in New York City on August 
7, 1795, and was a lineal descendant of the Colonial Drakes, set- 
tlers of Eastchester. Left an orphan at an early age, he was placed 
under the care of a guardian. As a boy he was fond of rowing 
his boat among the inlets of the upper East River where he could 
steal off by himself unmolested and spend the long summer after- 
noons in the shade of some willow tree along the river bank. 

The happiest hours of his boyhood days he passed in the 
environs of Hunt's Point which gave inspiration to his verses. It 
was while he lived in the old "Grange" that he became acquainted 
with the daughter of Henry Eckford, the well-known shipbuilder. 
He commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Nicholas Romayne 
in 1813, received his degree in 1816, and in the same year he mar- 
ried Miss Eckford. After a visit to Europe and to New Orleans 
in a vain effort to restore his failing health, Drake died of con- 



HUNT'S POINT 97 

sumption, September 21, 1820. at the age of twenty-five, before 
his art as a poet had fully matured. 

"There will be less sunshine for me hereafter," said Halleck, 
"now that Joe is gone." 

The association of Halleck and Drake in the most intimate 
of friendships is the pleasantest incident in the history of Ameri- 
can letters. The two poets charmed the town, in 1819, with a 
series of humorous satirical verses which they contributed to the 
New York Evening Post under the signature of "Croaker & Co." 

Judged by what he had begun to do, this young poet was cut 
down at the opening of a promising career. Had the author of 
"The Culprit Fay," "American Flag," and "The Bronx" lived to 
a mature age, the prose fancies of Irving might have found a 
counterpart in the verse of Drake, inspired by the enchanted ground 
along the banks of the Hudson. 

In memory of the intimate friendship that existed between 
them, Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote, at the death of Drake, a touching 
tribute beginning with these exquisite lines: 

Green be the tui'f above thee. 

Friend of my better days; 
None knew thee but to love thee, 

Nor named thee but to praise. 

The author shall never forget his first visit to Hunt's Point 
some ten years ago and with what frequency he visited it there- 
after. He had seen rural country — much of it — but nothing has 
ever taken so firm a hold upon his imagination as that piece of 
ground. He never could fathom why it appealed to him so strongly, 
perhaps it was the quaint old mansions and shady lanes that lured 
him to these scenes; but whatever the cause the spot had cast a 
bewitching spell upon him and he passed many a pleasant idle 
hour there. 

During his rambles thru this isolated region he collected 
from old residents many an interesting tale of its early history, 
for few regions have been more kindly disposed than this to the 
preservation of their traditions. 

One of the first points of interest the author was shown was 



98 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



the quaint little Hunt burying ground * in which early settlers 
were interred and which is the last resting place of Joseph Rod- 
man Drake. 

Until Park Commissioner Higgins sent a force of men there 
in the summer of 1910 to clear away the over-grown weeds and 
brambles and to cement the broken pieces of headstones together, 
the repose of the little cemetery was rarely disturbed, and all sum- 
mer long the birds and insects raised an unceasing song around the 
weed-grown graves of the forgotten dead ; the winter spread a 




Hunt's Point Cemetery in 1900 

blanket of white snow over it which remained until spring came 
slowly and reluctantly to this upland resting place. 

And so the seasons came and passed, leaving the finger marks 
of time and ruin. Yet on a summer's day the little knoll with its 
crumbling, weather-beaten old tombstones is really a delightful 
spot, and from its summit one can obtain an excellent panoramic 
view of the surrounding country. 



* The little "God's Acre" is less than half an acre in area and is located 
on the summit of a wooded knoll a short distance from the Hunt's Point 
Station on the New Rochelle branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad running from Mott Haven to New Rochelle. 



HUNT'S POINT 



99 



Before you are the placid, rippling, flashing waters of the 
Sound dotted here and there by the white sails of pleasure craft; 
while in the distance rise the dim bluish outlines of Long Island. 
Toward the west lies the Metropolitan City of Greater New York 
in all its majestic splendor. Silhouetted against the sky are the 
outlines of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, St. Luke's Hos- 
pital, Columbia Library, and Grant's Tomb as well as the College 
of the City of New York and Columbia University with their many 
outlying buildings. The populous Bronx stretches northward, and 




Grave of Joseph Rodman Drake 



the green rolling slopes of Westchester extend toward the east. The 
evidences of vigorous life and progress viewed from this little 
resting place of those so long dead bring strongly to mind the 
achievements of our own era. 

But when the wintry clouds scurry over the hill, and the rain 
beats down the withered weeds and dark graves, the burying 
ground seems weird and desolate. Years of wind and weather 
show plainly their imprints on the fifty or more tombstones scat- 
tered about, some of which, overspread with a coat of green moss, 
and sunken deep into the sod, date back nearly two and a half 
centuries. 



100 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Some of these grave stones may have been new and un- 
tarnished when Washington's Continentals in their retreat from 
Long Island, trudged along the old Colonial road which winds 
around the little hillock, and when Lafayette revisited this country 
in 1824. The noted French General, after crossing the famous 
"Kissing Bridge" which stood to the right of Southern Boulevard 
and Lafayette Lane, "paused in silent meditation at the grave 
of Joseph Rodman Drake," and then passed thru the narrow 
lane which was afterwards widened and named "Lafayette Avenue" 
in his honor. 

Surrounding one plot in the old cemetery was attached a rusty 
iron chain. It has long mouldered away from all but one of its 
fastenings to which it still clung creaking and rattling like a dun- 
geon fetter as the wind tossed it to and fro. Close by lay a shat- 
tered marble shaft which the angry winds had hurled from its 
pedestal and tall weeds and rank gro\rth were blotting out its 
inscriptions. Decadence due to neglect was manifest everywhere 
in this ruined city of the dead. 

Facing the entrance of the cemetery from the south stands a 
plain marble shaft seven feet high which marks the grave of 
Joseph Rodman Drake. 

Whatever fitness there may have been hi burying Drake in 
that particular spot, was lost in the neglect into which his grave 
Avas afterward permitted to fall. 

In 1891 the Brownson Literary Union in appreciation of his 
genius restored the monument to a semblance of its former neat- 
ness. The inscription reads : 

Sacred 

to the Memory 

of 

Joseph R. Drake, M.D. 

who died Sept. 21st 

1820 

Aged 25 Years 

None knew him but to love him, 

Nor named him but to praise. 

Renovated by The 

Brownson Literary Union 

July 25, 1891. 



HUNT'S POINT 



101 



The little cemetery is also the final resting place of veteran^ 

of the various Colonial wars and of Continental soldiers, members 
of the Hunt. Leggett. Willett and allied families. 

Directly opposite the Hunt burying ground is a small en- 




Slant Burying Ground 

closure in which the slaves of early residents were interred. It is 
also said that "Bill," the negro pilot of the wrecked British frigate 
Hussar, was buried there: 



"After the voice of shrieking winds 
And tossing of the angry deep, 
In kind embrace of Mother Earth 
Resting, like child in quiet sleep." 




CHAPTER XI 

THE ROMANCE OF BESSIE WARREN 

The Daugrhter of Old Simon, the Landlord of the "King's Arms" — Her Love 
for the Dashing Officer Who Was Branded a British Spy — The Maiden 
Who Did Not Forget; But Answered the Summons of a Beckoning Spirit 
and Was Taken over the Great Beyond. 

IHE consolidation of The Bronx with the Greater 
City in 1897, brought about many changes. When 
the Hunt's Point section was mapped out into regu- 
lar city streets, the little "God's Acre" was threat- 
ened with destruction, for a street was to be cut 
directly thru its center. When this became public, a storm 
of protests arose from various historical societies and 
literary associations to pi-event the obliteration of the old 
cemetery. One of the staunchest champions for its preservation 
was the Hon. James L. Wells, and thru his untiring efforts, com- 
bined with other pressure that was brought to bear, the original 
street plan was finally altered and the historic spot saved. By way 
of compromise the city turned the burial plot into a park and it 
has since been known as the Joseph Rodman Drake Park. 

Of the many headstones crumbling into decay, there was on$ 
which has been marvelously preserved, and stood as firm and erect 
as when first placed there. It was the grave of Elizabeth Willett, 
who departed this life the 19th of June, 1772, aged 27 years, three 
months — so the inscription on the tombstone averred. Here are the 
lines graven beneath her name : 

Behold and see, as you pass by; 

As you are now, so once was I, 

As I am NOW, you soon will be, -j 

Prepare for death and follow me. • 

Why was so grim an epitaph chosen for her? An involuntary 
shudder passes over one as he muses over these lines : 

102 



I 



THE ROMANCE OF BESSIE WARREN 103 

" 'Tis the wink of the eye, 'tis the draught of a breath 
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death, 
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud — 
Oh! Why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" 

One wonders whether the Elizabeth Willett resting there could 
be the Elizabeth Warren whose romance, full of pathos and sorrow 
has been handed down from parent to child for more than a 
century, and who is said to be sleeping in an unmarked grave 
somewhere in the neighborhood. 

Whether Elizabeth Warren really existed in life, or was merely 
the fanciful creation of a romancer can not be authentically stated, 
as historical research has failed to reveal her identity. 

Tradition tells us that when Elizabeth Warren was the belle 
of Hunt's Point, that section was considerably smaller than it is 
today — there were the meeting house, the blacksmith's shop, the 
"King's Arms," and a dozen or two cottages. These were all, but 
in those days such pioneer buildings constituted no mean village. 

Elizabeth was the daughter of old Simon Warren, the landlord 
of the "King's Arms" and she entered her maturity at a time when 
the air was overcast with rumors of approaching trouble. Already 
the first sign of that unrest which was to culminate in the Revolu- 
tion, was plain to all who had eyes to see and ears to hear; and 
it was said that there was no better place to observe these symp- 
toms than in the tap-room of Warren's inn. 

Warren came of that New England stock which had turned 
England topsy-turvy, and which was later to suffer severely for it, 
tho with ultimate happy results. The English consequently 
had no more bitter enemy in all the restless Colony than Simon 
Warren. To his place it was, therefore, that young hot-heads of 
the neighborhood resorted when they desired to discuss the manner 
in which they were to rid themselves of the insufferable yoke of 
the Mother Country. 

One evening at the close of a stormy day, a mud-bespattered 
traveler entered the "King's Arms" and sat long before the fire 
with old Simon, while pretty Bessie, the landlord's daughter, 
brought them many a foaming tankard to help the talk along. 

Now, it never occurred to the hospitable Simon that the polite 
stranger he was entertaining was a British spy who had been sent 
to feel the pulse of the Colonies. Having discovered that Simon's 



104 THE BOROUGH OP THE BRONX 

inn was the meeting place for the revolutionary hot-heads, he de- 
cided that he couldn't gauge the sentiments of the people better 
than at the old inn. 

He was young, handsome, learned; and, before he had been 
at the "King's Arms" very long, he had captivated Bessie's heart, 
and in their rambles thru the lanes of Westchester, he poured 
into her innocent heart the witcheries of romance and poetry. 
So sentimental were his words and so gallant his actions, that 
Bessie looked up to her youthful admirer as a being of a superior 
order; and, before she was aware of it, she had blushingly con- 
sented to become his wife. On the very day he had asked for 
Bessie's hand, came the discovery that he was a British spy. They 
found him in the garret with his ear to a crack in the floor listen- 
ing to the fiery speeches of the Patriots' Club in the room below. 

It was a wild night — outside the inn the great elms tossed 
their branches about like giants in agony. The signboard groaned 
as it swung before the gate. The fury of the storm kept the 
happy Bessie awake long after she had said "Good night," and 
retired. It seemed to her that she heard a shot — another, and 
another. The wind lulled for a second ; and, as she listened, in 
the sullen silence there was an awful cry. Then the storm swept 
down again and she told herself that it was nothing but a loose 
shutter; but her nervous fear worked on her imagination until 
she believed a tragedy had occurred. 

They told Bessie the next morning that her lover was a spy 
and that he had fled like a thief in the night with the dread of 
discovery. 

The blow came like a thunderclap from a clear sky to Bessie. 
It was rot long after this that a great shadow darkened her life. 
None knew whether she suspected the truth about the disappear- 
ance of her handsome lover, but many of the country-folk round 
about declared that they had seen a ghastly figure wandering 
nightly over the hillsides, always looking for something it never 
found. 

Like a beautiful lily cut down, Bessie began visibly to pine 
away. Everything possible was done to divert her thoughts and 
bring the color back to her pallid cheeks — but all in vain. Some- 
thing had gone out of her life that could not be replaced. Then 
one day old Simon found his daughter sitting at the window of 
her room apparently gazing earnestly out at something. He called 



I 



THE ROMANCE OF BESSIE WARREN 105 

to her, but there was no answer; he touched her with a feeling of 
awe, for there was that about her that transcended his under- 
standing. His eyes filled with tears; he broke away from her 
with a great cry. He understood: Bessie had found her lost 
lover. 

Tradition says that they laid her tenderly in a grove of tall 
elms on the hillside where she watched nightly for the return of her 
lover: 

"In vain her vigils did the maiden keep — 

This patriot daughter with her love-lit eyes — 
Waiting her absent lover's slow return 

Beneath Westchester's mellow evening skies. 

Dim figures they of that far-distant strife 

Whose swords are sheathed, with all their dent and stain, 
This warrior bold, this sweetheart desolate 

Wounded to death by war's stern thrust of pain. 

Yet still above thy turf-grown bed, sweet girl, 

Walk other lovers of this latest day, 
Who hear thy tale of passion and of grief 

And in their reverance hold thee dear alway. 

So shall the memory of thy woman's trust 

More beauteous ever grow, as swift time Hies, 
Like flowers that blossom from the common dust 

And shed their fragrance as of Paradise." 




CHAPTER XII 

THE "NEUTRAL GROUND" 

The Indian Cave — Leggett and His Stolen Mare — The Westchester Guides — 
Barretto's Point — A Wooden Armchair That Came over with the Pilgrim 
Fathers. 

HE most powerful of the tribes of aborigines which 
inhabited The Bronx were the Weckquaesgeeks. Relics 
of their settlements are still to be found along the 
shores of the Bronx and the East Rivers. Of these 
prehistoric relics, perhaps the most interesting is the 
"Indian cave," which is located a short distance east of the Hunt 
burying ground and about three hundred yards north of the bridge 
crossing the creek. This is said to have been the favorite haunt of 
the redmen, and it is there that many treaties were made with 
the whites. Close by are the remains of hastily thrown up earth- 
works of Lord Howe's Armj'. 

During the dark days of the Revolution, the little settlements 
along the East River endured many hardships and privations. With 
the retreat of the American army in November, 1776, Westchester 
County was overrun with British refugees, known as "Cowboys," 
who committed all sorts of depredations and raids upon the de- 
fenseless farmers. Equally rapacious were the American ma- 
rauders, called "Skinners," who made frequent raids upon the 
loyalist inhabitants of the county. These bands of cowboys and 
of skinners carried on their plundering expeditions into the so- 
called "Neutral Ground" — a strip of land between the American 
outposts under the command of General Heath and those of the 
British under Lieutenant-Colonel James De Lancey. 

An interesting story is told about Thomas Leggett, whose 
ancestors had been resident proprietors of the "Planting Neck" 
section. 

Thomas Leggett was the oldest son of Gabriel Leggett, 2nd. 
He strongly resented the invasion of the British. He organized a 
vigilance committee of Home Guards, as they were called among 

106 



THE "NEUTRAL GROUND" 107 

the young men of the neighborhood, and patrolled the highways. 
At the first approach of the enemy they were to give the alarm 
and as they were equipped with the latest firearms, they hoped to 
drive invaders off their lands. However, they were caught napping. 
A party of British refugees got thru their lines unobserved, 
and seized Leggett just as he was leading his favorite mare out of 
the barn. Being unarmed he had to submit to their outrages. 
They carried off the young mare, which had been a gift of his par- 




INDIAN Cave 

ents, along with the other property. Leggett was furious ; he threat- 
ened to have the marauders hanged ; but they only mocked him 
as they went on their way. He followed them, however, hoping 
to meet some of the Guards, but they all seemed to have vanished. 
When the party reached the junction of what are now Tremont 
Avenue and Boston Road, two Continental soldiers rose from be- 
hind a stone wall and fired. The man leading the horse was shot 
and he fell. The mare, finding herself free, took to her heels and 
ran home, much to the delight of her owner. • 

The County of Westchester contributed largely to the Ameri- 
can cause. Versed in every hidden path of the region, the West- 



108 THE BOROUGH OF THE BkONX 

Chester guides were of invaluable service to Washington and his 
troops. 

The foremost of these patriotic-spirited guides were Abraham 
and Michael Dyckman, whose old homestead at King's Bridge Road 
(Broadway) and Hawrthorne Street, rebuilt at the close of the 
Revolution, is still pointed out as the only remaining Dutch farm- 
house on the road. 

In May, 1780, Michael Dyckman acted as guide to Captain 
Gushing of the Massachusetts Line in his attack upon De Lancey's 
Corps. The Americans captured more than forty prisoners. 

Michael Dyckman figured in an exploit on the 26th of March, 
1782, when, with thirteen volunteer horsemen he made an excur- 
sion to Morrisania, and took five of De Lancey's corps and five 
horses. On their return they were pursued by a party of the 
enemy's horse, but when the British came near, the gallant West- 
chester Volunteers faced right about, charged vigorously, took 
one man prisoner with his horse, and put the rest to flight. The 
enemy again appeared on the old Eastchester Road but dared not 
renew the attack. 

Abraham Dyckman was mortally wounded on March 4th, 
1782, while piloting a body of volunteer horse under Captain 
Hunnewell (after whom Honeywell Avenue in West Farms was 
subsequently named) . The Americans made the attack on the 
cantonment of De Lancey's corps just before sunrise, taking the 
enemy completely by surprise, killing and wounding many, and 
capturing twenty prisoners. De Lancey himself would perhaps 
have been taken prisoner had not the British loyalists fired the 
alarm guns and thus caused the Americans to retire. The enemy 
quickly started in pursuit but soon fell into an ambuscade set by 
Major Woodbridge, who with a party of light infantry had ac- 
companied Captain Hunnewell. 

The State of New York has erected a granite monument at 
Yorktown in memory of the patriotic services of Abraham 
Dyckman. 

The headquarters of De Lancey's corps was the De Lancey 
Block House, which had stood on the site of the Peabody House 
(One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Street) , and which was destroyed 
in a midnight attack by Aaron Burr in 1779. The De Lancey Pine, 
150 feet high, is still one of the historic landmarks of West 
Farms. 



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i 



THE "NEUTRAL GROUND" 



109 



"Memorial of the fallen great, 
The rich and honored line, 
Stands high in solitary state, 
De Lancey's Ancient Pine." 

Andrew Corsa, born in the Rose Hill Manor House which is 
situated on the grounds of Fordham University, was the last of 
the Westchester guides. He was called upon to act as guide to 
Washington and Rochambeau when he was but nineteen years of 
age. One time when the French and American allies were march- 




Mavfluwer Chairs 

ing past the iVIorris mansion opposite Randal's Island and Snake 
Hill, where the British were encamped, the enemy's artillery 
opened fire. Scared out of his wits, young Corsa dashed for his 
life and took refuge behind the old Morrisania mill. Taking a 
furtive glance from his hiding place and seeing Washington and 
the other generals riding along unperturbed and heedless of any- 
thing about them, he hastily spurred on his horse and galloped 
back to his place on the line, where he was cheered for his courage. 
Andrew Corsa died in 1852, at the age of ninety-one at Bedford 
Park, nearly opposite the Rose Hill manor-house. 

Blythe Place was a strip of land running to a point somewhat 



110 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



similar to the Hunt property, southwest of the Planting Neck, 
and became known in later years as Barretto's Point. The property 
was owned by Francis J. Barretto, who for one year represented 
Westchester County in the State Assembly. Blijthe the residence 
of Barretto, was of Revolutionary date, and when its inside shutters 
were closed it was a miniature fortress. Close by stood the resi- 
dence of Thomas Leggett, near the Leggett Dock. The Leggetts 
originally came from Essex County, England, and traced their 




'Woodside" Mansion 



ancestry back to Helmingino Leget, High Sheriff of that county in 
1404. As early as 1661, Gabriel Leggett emigrated to this country. 
Thru the marriage of Elizabeth Richardson, daughter of John 
Richardson, who with Edward Jessup were the first white owners 
of that large tract of land, he fell heir to much of the property. 
In the field opposite the George Fox mansion, erected about 1848, 
on the long slope below the SpofFord mansion, is the site of the 
Leggett burying ground, where ten bodies of early settlers were 
removed, one being that of Mayor Leggett of Westchester. 

When the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock, in 1620, 
they brought with them among their household furniture, two 



THE "NEUTRAL GROUND" 111 

wooden armchairs, which had no historical associations at that 
time, but were strong and sturdy and had been of great comfort 
to the suffering pioneers ; and so, for "old-times' sake" were taken 
ashore. Later these chairs were presente'd to Governor Caryel, 
who took a peculiar fancy to them, because they brought back re- 
collections of the Old World. For many years the chairs occupied 
a prominent place in the library of Charles V. Faile, who lived in 
the beautiful "Woodside" mansion which stood on the site now 
occupied by the plant of the American Bank Note Company on 
Lafayette Avenue. 

Woodside was built in 1832 by E. G. Faile an importer of 
tea and sugar. He was regarded as a rich man for those days and, 
being a lover of horses, he imported fast horses from Argentina at 
a cost, according to tradition, of $1,000 each in transportation 
alone. He drove to his place of business in Chambers Street every 
day and was always at his office by 9 o'clock. 




CHAPTER XIII 

NATHAN HALE 

"I regret That I Have But One Life to Lose for My Country"— Capt. Hale, 
the Patriot, Scholar and Soldier, Whose Mission Brought Him Death 
But Spread His Name on the Living Pages of History. 

IHE "LOCUSTS" was another famous Revolutionary 
dwelling which stood upon the Faile property near 
Hunt's Point Road. It is said that Nathan Hale stopped 
here over night while reconnoitering in the neighbor- 
hood at the time the British were crossing at Hell Gate 
and Washington had moved his troops to Harlem Heights. It 
was shortly after this incident that Capt. Hale started on his ex- 
pediton as spy. 

The story of Hale's heroic death, and the memorable words 
he uttered when he was standing on the fatal ladder, will ever re- 
main an inspiration to American hearts. 

Hale was only twenty-one years old when he died. He was 
born in Coventry, Connecticut, June 6, 1755, and was the sixth 
child of a family of twelve. He entered Yale College in 1770 and 
was graduated with the highest honors three years later. After 
leaving college he became a teacher in New London, Connecticut, 
intending eventually to enter the ministry. Hardly had his career 
begun when tidings arrived of the outbreak at Lexington. His 
spirit was fired, and at a mass meeting of his townspeople in 
Minery's Tavern, he dedicated his life to the cause of American 
liberty. 

"Let us march immediately, and not lay down our arms until 
we have gained our independence!" he said in most ardent tones. 
Before the meeting closed, a company had been formed, and at 
daybreak it was on its way to Boston. 

It was during the siege of Boston that Hale displayed his 
great ability as a leader. In consideration of the services rendered 
there, he was commissioned a Captain. 

During the summer of 1776, the American army suffered most. 

112 



NATHAN HALE 113 

The battle of Long Island had been disastrous, and a hasty retreat 
had been made to Manhattan Island. The outlook was discour- 
aging. Men were ill and were dying in appalling numbers; deser- 
tions were many; the army was being rapidly decimated. Lack 
of food and the failure to receive pay were breeding insubordina- 
tion, and not more than fourteen thousand men were fit for duty. 
Across the East River was a British army of about twenty-five 



"The Locusts" 

thousand seasoned troops, and in the Lower Bay a powerful navy 
lay stripped for action. 

For the first time since Washington had taken the field, he 
was worried and depressed. On every side he saw a choice of 
difficulties confronting him. In a letter to the President of Con- 
gress, he writes : 

"It is evident, the enemy mean to close us on the island of 
New York, by taking post in our rear, while the shipping secures 
the front, and thus, by cutting off our communication with the 
country, oblige us to fight them on their own terms, or surrender 
at discretion; or by a brilliant stroke endeavor to cut this army 



114 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

in pieces, and secure the collection of arms and stores, they well 
know, we shall not be able soon to replace." 

The question was: How could the enemy's plan be most suc- 
cessfully opposed and defeated? To Washington there seemed 
but one way of discovering Howe's plans, and that was for a 
competent person to enter the British lines, and procure intelli- 
gence of their designs. The duty of finding a volunteer for this 
delicate enterprise was left to Lieutenant Colonel Knowlton, who 
had distinguished himself at Bunker Hill, and who had some of the 
best fighters under him. 

Summoning his officers for a conference. Colonel Knowlton 
explained to them the situation, and the vital importance of the 
mission. But his plea was met with cold response. The work re- 
quired of them, so they argued, was degrading for men of honor 
and refinement. Colonel Knowlton was about to give way to 
despair when Captain Hale, emaciated from the effects of a recent 
illness, entered the room and volunteered to undertake the work 
requested by his Commander-in-chief. In vain Hale's brother 
officers tried to dissuade him, but no argument deterred him from 
his resolve to serve his country. 

"I think I owe my country the accomplishment of an object 
so important, and so much desired by the Commander of our 
armies, and I know of no other mode of obtaining the informa- 
tion than by assuming a disguise and passing into the enemy's 
camp. I am fully sensible of the consequences of discovery and 
capture in such a situation, but for a year I have been attached to 
the army and have not rendered any material service. Yet, I am 
not influenced by the expectation of promotion or pecuniary re- 
ward. I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary 
for the public good becomes honorable by being necessary. If 
my country demands a peculiar service, its claims of the perform- 
ance of that service are imperious." 

Accompanied by Colonel Knowlton, Captain Hale presented 
himself before General Washington and received final instructions. 
He started on his fatal expedition from the Roger Morris house, 
better known as the Jumel Mansion on Harlem Heights. 

Assuming his professional character of schoolmaster, he was 
taken down the Sound at night and landed at Great Neck in 
Huntington Bay where he boldly plunged into the enemy's lines. 



NATHAN HALE 11& 

Captain Hale was gone about two weeks, and in that time made 
the rounds of the entire British camps including New York, of 
which the enemy had taken possession on September 15th. The 
schoolmaster completed drawings of their defences and jotted down 
in Latin the information he had gathered. After completing his 
dangerous task, Captain Hale retraced his steps to Huntington, 
where a boat was to meet him and convey him to the Connecticut 
shore. 

According to some writers, Hale was betrayed by a cousin 
who recognized him sitting in Widow Chichester's tavern waiting 
for his boat; but no proof exists for the authenticity of this re- 
port. It is more likely, however, that in the dark he mistook the 
boat from the British ilagship Halifax, which had been sent to 
shore for water, for his own, and did not discover his mistake 
until he found himself a prisoner in the hands of the enemy. He 
was taken aboard the ship, stripped and searched. The plans and 
Latin memoranda were found hidden between the soles of his 
shoes. On this evidence, he was adjudged a spy, and immediately 
hurried to New York, where he landed on Saturday, September 
21st, the day of the great fire which destroyed four hundred 
buildings. The prisoner was taken to General Howe's headquar- 
ters in the Beekman mansion. Fifty-first Street and First Avenue. 

It is said that General Howe had retired to the greenhouse 
in the rear of the mansion, when the young patriot was brought 
before him. Hale denied nothing. He admitted he was a captain 
in Washington's army, and that he had been sent on a secret mis- 
sion, and only regretted that he had not been successful. 

After a brief parley he was sentenced to be executed at day- 
break the next morning. He was taken in charge by the notorious 
Cunningham, Provost Marshal of the Royal army, who boasted 
of having been responsible for the death of several hundred Fed- 
eral prisoners, who were confined in the old sugar-house prison. 

Captain Hale was thrust into one of the numerous cells be- 
neath the prison, and here his death warrant was read to him by 
Cunningham. As the keeper was departing, the young patriot 
requested that his arms which had been securely bound might 
be released, and that he might have some writing materials and a 
light. Cunningham brutally denied him these favors, as he did 
also his request for a Bible. Later, however, a young officer of 



116 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Captain Hale's guard interceded, and a light, pen and paper, 
as well as a Bible, were given to the condemned prisoner. 

The Captain passed the night writing. One letter he in- 
dited to his mother, another to his sister, and a third to his 
sweetheart. What happened after he finished his writing we have 
-no means of knowing, but it is likely that he devoted the rest of his 
time to prayer. 




Courtesy of D. Api)lt'lon d- Co. 

Nathan Hale Monument in City Hall Park 



At daybreak the door of the cell was opened and Cunningham, 
accompanied by a file of guards, entered. They found Captain 
Hale ready to meet his fate. To Cunningham the patriot handed 
the letters which he had written, and as a dying request asked 
that they be forwarded to his family. Cunningham read the let- 
ters and in Captain Hale's presence destroyed the last message of 
a man about to die. When asked later why he had done this, Cun- 
ningham said : "I did not want the rebels to know they had a man 
who could die with such firmness." 



NATHAN HALE 



117 



The dawn was just breaking when Captain Hale was marched 
to the place of execution. Then, while the patriot stood on the 
rounds of the ladder, with a noose around his neck, Cunningham 



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Page from Memorandum Book 



demanded of his victim his last dying speech and confession. It 
is said that Captain Hale glanced at him with a look of contempt 
but paid no heed to the man's sneering remarks. Then turning to 
the others he impressively uttered the immortal words: 

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country!" 



118 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

The young patriot was buried near the spot where he was 
executed. The site was unmarked, but it is supposed to have been 
under an apple tree which grew where a statue of him now 
stands in City Hall Park. This bronze representation of the 
young captain with his arms bound is one of the most pathetic 
figures ever wrought by a sculptor. 

A few years ago, there was found in a second-hand bookstore 
in London a large memorandum book which had evidently be- 
longed to some British soldier during the Revolution. The relic 
is of great historic value and it is now in the possession of the New 
York Historical Society. 

One of the entries reads : 

"September 22, 1776: A Spy from the Enemy (by his own 
full Confession) Apprehended Last night, was this day Executed 
at 11 o'clock in front of the Artillery." 

This is said to be the only official record of the execution of 
Nathan Hale. 



CHAPTER XIV 

CLASON'S POINT 

The Coney Island of The Bronx — Cornell's Neck^ — Three Clergymen who Hid 
in a Farm House in the Days of the Revolution — The Distinction of the 
Ferris Mansion at Zerega's Point — The Fate of Anne Hutchinson. 

p^^s^ROSSING the railroad bridge on Westchester Avenue 
'if^'^^^^u and Edgewater Road, we pass what was once the beau- 
'■J' tiful Watson estate and the old Westchester golf 
ii^>^^;^!| grounds. The property is now in the hands of a real 
estate company, which is cutting up the land into build- 
ing lots. 

One of the most delightful trolley rides thru picturesque 
Westchester, is the trip to Clason's Point, called by the Indians 
Snakapins. The car passes thru charming country regions 
that would never be looked for on the very edge of New York City. 
Clason's Point is ideally located on the Sound, and is fast be- 
coming famous as a summer amusement resort, having all the 
attractions of Coney Island. 

Clason's Point is at the extremity of Cornell's Neck, which 
was named after its first settler, Thomas Cornell, who came in 
1643 from Rhode Island with John Throckmorton and Roger 
Williams. Cornell had emigrated to America with his family from 
the shire of Essex in England, and had acquired from the Indians 
a tract of land lying just east of the Bronx River; here he estab- 
lished a plantation, which, with that of his neighbor, Jacob Jans 
Stoll, who had purchased Broncksland from the widow of Jonas 
Bronck, formed the outpost of civilization in the vicinity of New 
Amsterdam along the East River. 

During the Indian massacre of 1643, Cornell escaped on a 
vessel which had just arrived in the nick of time. He later re- 
turned to his estate and received in 1646 from the Dutch authori- 
ties in New Amsterdam a patent confirming his purchase, but he 
was again forced by the Indians to abandon his property. After 
this he never more returned. His daughter Sarah, who had mar- 

119 



120 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



ried Thomas Willett, inherited the estate which remained in the 
possession of her descendants until 1793. The western section 
was sold in that year to Dominick Lynch, a wealthy Irishman; 
and the eastern division to Isaac Clason, after whom Clason's Point 
received its name. 

On the extreme end of Clason's Point stood until recently 
the ruins of an ancient farmhouse, once the abode of Thomas and 
Sarah Willett. The farmhouse was shelled by Lord Howe's fleet 
as the ships passed on their way to Throgg's Neck, October, 1776. 




Watson Mansion 

Many relics from this old structure and a part of the original 
Cornell house can be found at the Clason's Point Inn. 

Close by is the Clason's Point Military Academy, erected as a 
residence by Dominick Lynch. The committee that designed the 
American flag met here before proceeding to Philadelphia. The 
Lynch mansion went successively thru the hands of the Ludlow 
family, the Schieff'elins, and finally to the Christian Brothers of 
the Catholic Church who converted it into the Sacred Heart 
Academy and later gave it its present name. 

The quaint old homestead of the Wilkins family is located at 
Screven's Point, which lies south of Unionport. The point was 
named after John Screven, a great-nephew by marriage of the 



CLASON'S POINT 



121 



Honorable Gouverneur Morris. His father-in-law was Gouverneur 
Morris Wilkins, son of the Reverend Isaac Wilkins, who married 
Isabella Morris, the sister of the statesman and half-sister of 
Lewis Morris, the Signer. 

The old Wilkins farmhouse famed as the building in a secret 
chamber of which three loyalist clergymen. Rev. Myles Cooper, 
president of King's College, Rev. Chandler of New Jersey and Rev. 
Samuel Seabury, rector of Saint Peter's Church in Westchester, 




Ferris Mansion, Zerega's Point 



concealed themselves during the early days of the Revolution, is 
still standing. Food and drink were lowered to these men thru 
a hidden trap door. They finally escaped on the 1st of September, 
1776, under cover of darkness to Long Island. 

The ground in this vicinity was once occupied by the Siwanoy 
Indians who had erected a fortified castle here, whence the name 
"Castle Hill Neck." Adrien Block, in his voyage of discovery in 
1614, spoke of seeing big Indian wigwams there. Castle Hill 
Neck is an elevated tract of land, sixty feet above the sea level, 
and is situated east of Cornell's Neck, between Wilkin's, or Pugsley, 
and Westchester Creeks. It was for some time the property of the 



122 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Cromwells, descendants of John Cromwell, a nephew of the Lord 
Protector Oliver, and was consequently known as Cromwell's Neck. 
In 1685 John and Elizabeth Cromwell exchanged with Thomas 
Hunt of Grove Farm six acres of meadow land for eight acres of 
upland situated upon Castle Neck. Above Jerome Avenue and 
One Hundred Sixty-fifth Street is the rapidly decaying Cromwell 
house. Nearby is Cromwell's Creek which served to propel the 
mill of James Cromwell, born in 1752. 

The oldest house in The Bronx is said to be the Ferris Mansion 
at Zerega's Point. This old relic claims birth in 1687 and was 
owned by Josiah Hunt, the son of Thomas Hunt, the patentee of 
Hunt's Point. The Grove Farm of Thomas Hunt was sold in 
1760 to Josiah Cousten, who in turn sold it fifteen years later to 
John Ferris, whose ancestor had received in 1667 a patent from 
Governor NicoUs for a portion of Westchester, west of Annes 
Hoeck. At the extreme end of this point stands "Island Hall," the 
stately stone Zerega Mansion, dating from 1823. 

In the summer of 1642, the region of the east side of the 
Borough, known as Pelham Neck, was settled by Anne Hutchinson, 
a widow with several children, and Thomas Collins, her son-in-law, 
and his family. They were of English stock and had fled from 
New England to escape the religious persecution of the Puritans. 
They were the next white settlers of the Borough after Jonas 
Bronck. 

Mrs. Anne Hutchinson came with her husband and their 
children from Lincolnshire, England, to Massachusetts Bay Colony 
on September 18, 1634. She was a woman of kind heart, of fervent 
religious spirit, and of unusual intellectual force and ability so 
that she was characterized by a contemporary, "The masterpiece of 
woman's wit." Her doctrine that those who possess faith are 
above law, gained wide support thruout the Colony. The 
Puritans, fearing that such preaching would lead to licentiousness, 
as it later did in the case of Captain John Underbill who was found 
guilty of adultery, banished Mrs. Hutchinson and her adherents. 
In 1638 she withdrew with her family and followers to Roger 
Williams's settlement on the Isle of Aquidneck (now Rhode Island) , 
where they founded Portsmouth. 

Upon the death of her husband, four years later, Mrs. Hutch- 
inson and her party came to Flushing, Long Island, whence after a 
brief stay she repaired to Pelham Neck. This region was for a time 



CLASON'S POINT 



123 



known as "Annes Hoeck," or Ann's Neck. The Hutchinson River 
perpetuates her name. Here they erected a cabin upon the rising 
ground of the famous "Split Rock." 

A few months later, Throgg's Neck (named by the Indians 
Qidnmthiitig) , sometimes styled in old records "Frog's Point," 
was settled by John Throckmorton (or Throgmorton) and thirty- 
five Baptist families, who, like the Hutchinsons, had been driven 
from Rhode Island because of religious persecution. In granting 




Split Rock, Pelham Bay Park 



them a patent in October, 1643, the Dutch authorities in New 
Amsterdam referred to it as Vriedelandt, or "Land of peace." 

In 1643 the Weckquaesgeek Indians, fleeing before a raid of 
their dreaded enemies, the Mohawks of the north, abandoned their 
village in Westchester County and came in a miserable condition 
to Pavonia on Manhattan Island. Director Kieft, perhaps seeing 
an opportunity of obtaining easy possession of the lands inhabited 
by the Indians, ordered that they be surprised at night and merci- 
lessly massacred. This cruel act aroused the neighboring tribes to 
such implacable fury that they wildly set about to exterminate all 
who intruded upon their hunting grounds. Westchester was laid 
waste. 



124 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



A party of Indians came to Mrs. Hutchinson on a friendly 
visit, as was their wont. After discoursing with her they asked 
that she tie up her dogs lest they bite. She did not suspect the 
Indians' guile and granted their request; whereupon thej' gave 
vent to the rancor against the whites burning in their hearts. They 
brutally butchered Mrs. Hutchinson and her family, sparing only 
her eight-year-old daughter Frances, whom they took captive. 
Another daughter, just as she was about to escape over a hedge, 
was seized by the hair and heartlessly put to death. In all, sixteen 
persons were murdered, while Throckmorton and his followers 




Massacre of Anne Hutchinson Colony 



escaped on a vessel which had just then so opportunely arrived. 
The Indians then placed all the cattle into the houses and applied 
the torch to them. 

Mrs. Hutchinson's old Puritan acquaintance took her tragic 
death as evidences of Divine wrath against the woman's heresies. 
One of them, remarking that outrages by the Indians were rare, 
says, "God's hand is the more apparently seen herein to pick out 
this woeful woman to make her an unheard-of heavy example of 
their cruelty above others." 

Four years after the massacre, a treaty of peace was concluded 
between the Dutch and the Indians, one of the conditions of which 
was that Mrs. Hutchinson's daughter be surrendered and sent to 
her friends in Boston. Long association with the Indians had en- 
deared them to her; she had forgotten her own language, and she 



Cl.ASON'S POINT 125 

was loath to forsake them. After much pleading she was finally 
prevailed upon to leave them. She became reconciled, married 
John Cole in 1651, and left descendants. 

In commemoi-ation of Anne Hutchinson's massacre the Daugh- 
ters of American Dames have erected a bronze tablet near the 
spot where the intrepid Colonists lost their lives, which bears this 
inscription : 

Anne Hutchinson, banished from the Massachusetts colony 

in 1638 because of her devotion to religious liberty. 
This courageous woman sought freedom from persecution 

in New Netherland. 

Near this rock in 1643 she and her household were massacred 

by Indians. 




CHAPTER XV 

THROGG'S NECK 

'The Lexing'ton of Westchester" — How American Patriots Repulsed the 
Enemy at Throgg's Neck — Colonel John Glover, the Hero of Pell's Point, 
Who Saved Washington from Disastrous Defeat — "Spy Oak," from Whose 
branches a Red-Coat was Handed. 

T the extreme end of Throgg's Neck is Fort Schuyler, 
one of "Uncle Sam's" fortifications on Long Island 
Sound. The fort was begun in 1833 and completed in 
1856. It was equipped with a battery of twelve-inch 
mortars, as well as several disappearing guns. On 
the opposite shore is Fort Totten, on Willett's Point, the Torpedo 
and Submarine Training Station. 

The fort has proved to be too old fashioned to be of further 
use, and reliance for attack and defence has been placed in the 
more modern fortifications at the eastern entrance of the Sound 
at Fisher's Island. In the summer of 1911 the garrison was with- 
drawn from Fort Schuyler, and the fort was placed in charge of a 
sergeant and a small body of men. 

Near Cherry Point, on Throgg's Neck, was the palatial i-esi- 
dence of Governor E. D. Morgan. 

Almost every inch of ground hereabouts has its historic points. 
During the Revolution it was the hotbed of Tories and the center 
of many a bloody conflict. 

Following the repulse of General Howe's formidable force at 
the battle of Harlem Heights on September 16th, 1776, Washing- 
ton withdrew his men to the commanding hills on the upper end of 
Manhattan Island, where he believed that in the event of a renewal 
of hostilities he would be better equipped to defend his position 
with his small force. 

While Washington was busy fortifying Fort Washington, 
Howe conceived the idea that by getting in the rear of the Ameri- 
can army and cutting off their supplies, which were chiefly derived 
from the east, he would have them at his mercy and thus bring 
the rebellion to a summary end. 

126 



THROGG'S NECK 127 

Detaching part of the troops from the main army, Howe sent 
them over to the east side of Harlem, where they were put aboard 
boats and transported to Throgg's Neck. Simultaneously with 
this movement a squadron of ships filled with another army were 
sent up the Hudson River, under cover of darkness, with instruc- 
tions to cooperate with the Throgg's Neck division, and by a com- 
bined rear attack drive the rebels back to Manhattan. 

To prevent Washington from discovering the ruse, Howe kept 
a large force in front of the American trenches. Theoretically, 
the coup Howe had planned was worthy of his genius, but, before 
it could be put into operation Washington had moved his force to 
White Plains. 

Early in the morning of October 12, 1776, four thousand 
British troops under General Howe landed with artillery at 
Throgg's Neck, but, unfortunately for them, their approach had 
been observed by General Heath, who, quick to perceive the signifi- 
cance of this move lost no time in dispatching a courier with the 
intelligence to General Washington. An alarm wa^ immediately 
sounded and all available troops were rushed to the scene in order 
to check the enemy's advance. 

Throgg's Neck was separated from the mainland by a narrow 
creek and a marsh, and, at high tide, was surrounded by water. A 
bridge connecting with an old causeway had to be crossed to reach 
the mainland. 

Before the enemy reached this spot the American patriots 
had ripped up the planking of the bridge and a company of Colonel 
Hand's picked Riflemen had posted themselves on the opposite side 
of the causeway and began to pour a hot fire into the advancing 
ranks. They were soon reinforced by Colonel Prescott, of Bunker 
Hill fame, with his regiment, and Lieutenant Bryant of the Artil- 
lery with a three-pounder. 

Checked at this pass, the British moved toward the head of 
the creek ; here, too, they found the Americans in possession of the 
ford. Again and again they attempted to cross, but the unerring 
aim of the American riflemen was so deadly and persistent that 
they finally abandoned the idea of crossing. This repulse was 
known as the "Lexington of Westchester." It took place at the 
bridge where today the trolley crosses Westchester Creek just east 
of Westchester Square. 

When Washington arrived some hours later the British had 



12S THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

returned to the Neck, and, after throwing up earthworks, encamped. 
For six days Howe's Army remained inactive at Throgg's Neck. 
When he finally got his army in motion, the Americans had with- 
drawn to White Plains, a more strategic position. Howe's inac- 
tivity had lost him a golden opportunity. 

On the 14th of October the Americans held a council of war 
at Kingsbridge, at the quarters of General Lee, who arrived that 
day from the South. 

It was decided that it would be impracticable to blockade the 
Sound or even the North River. The only method of preventing 
the British from cutting off Washington's communication with the 
country was an immediate northern movement towards the strong 
grounds in the upper part of Westchester County. Fort Wash- 
ington, however, in compliance with the wishes of the Continental 
Congress, was to be maintained as long as possible. 

On the 18th the whole British army was in motion. Lord 
Howe re-embarked part of his troops in flatboats, crossed East- 
chester Bay, and landed on Pell's Point (now Pelham Bay Park) 
at the north of the Hutchinson River. Here he was joined in a 
few hours by the main body, and proceeded thru the manor of 
Pelham, still with the intention of getting above Washington's 
Army. Washington, believing that Howe was planning an attack 
upon Morrisania, where the Americans had a strong outpost, or- 
dered Heath and his troops to that position to watch the enemy; 
thus leaving the British free to capture and destroy the scattered 
American army. But in their march the British were waylaid 
and harassed from behind stone walls by the brigade under the 
command of Colonel John Glover. 

This brigade was composed of the regiments of Colonels Shep- 
ard, Read and Baldwin, as well as his own Marblehead, Massachu- 
setts, regiment which had played so important a part in skillfully 
manning and rowing the boats in the retreat from Long Island, 
and later when Washington took his army across the Delaware and 
surprised the Hessians at Trenton. Colonel Glover's regiment was 
composed almost wholly of fishermen, and was therefore styled 
the "Amphibious Regiment." They were hardy, adroit and 
weather-proof; fresh and full of spirit; and, as they marched 
briskly along the line with alert and cheery aspect, they inspired 
the other soldiers with enthusiasm. 

The British made their landing under cover of darkness. 



THROGG'S NECK 129 

When Glover discovered them he immediately notified Lee at Valen- 
tine's Hill ; but receiving neither orders nor support, he set about 
to check the British on his own account with his meager brigade. 
He stationed the various regiments under his command behind stone 
fences along either side of the road leading to City Island. He 
posted his own regiment on the Heights overlooking the Hutchin- 
son River, under command of Captain Curtis. 

As the British advance guard came up to the City Island Road, 
Glover met them with an advance guard of forty men. After 
an interchange of shots, the patriots, outnumbered by the enemy, 
retreated along the road. The British pursued them but were soon 
routed by Read's regiment which opened fire upon them from be- 
hind a stone fence. The enemy returned with a larger force, but 
were again repulsed by Read's men. Read now withdrew beyond 
Shepard's regiment on the opposite side of the road. 

The British pursued the retiring regiment in solid columns, 
but were thrown into confusion by Shepard's men who poured 
several volleys upon the enemy from behind the stone fence. The 
Americans withdrew behind Baldwin's regiment. They kept up 
their sharp fire upon the British, but were finally compelled to re- 
treat by the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. The Battle of 
Pell's Point kept up for practically all day, but the handful of 
Americans were no match for the British forces. The Americans 
lost only six killed and thirteen wounded ; while the British loss 
was in the neighborhood of one thousand killed and wounded. 

"After fighting all day without victuals or drink," writes Col. 
Glover, "we lay as a picquet all night, the heavens over us and 
the earth under us, which was all we had, after having left our 
baggage at the old encampment we left in the morning." 

The next day they were forced to continue the retreat until 
they reached Mile Square, west of the Bronx River. Their hunger 
and fatigue were offset by the feeling that they had done a valuable 
service to their country by delaying Howe and enabling Wash- 
ington to reach White Plains. Howe reached the coveted place 
at last but it was too late for his purpose of intercepting Washing- 
ton in his march northward. The gallantry of Glover and his men 
saved the day. 

Both Washington and General Lee issued public thanks to 
Col. Glover and the officers and soldiers who were with him in this 
skirmish, for their merit and good behavior. 



130 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Mile Square, Oct. 19, 1776. 

Gen'l Lee returns his warmest thanks to Colonel Glover and the Brigade 
under his command, not only for their gallant behaviour yesterday, but for 
their prudent, cool, orderly and soldierly conduct in all respects. . . ." 

Washington sent the following: 

General Orders 

Headquarters, Oct. 21, 1776. 
The hurried situation of the General the last two days having prevented 
him from paying that attention to Colonel Glover and the officers and soldiers 
who were with him in the skirmish on Friday last, their merit and good 
behavior deserved, he flatters himself that his thanks tho delayed will 
nevertheless be acceptable to them as they are offered with great sincerity 
and cordiality. 

On a gigantic boulder near the new bridge that spans the 
waters to City Island a fitting memorial was erected by the Bronx 
Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The tablet 
reads : 

GLOVER'S ROCK 



In Memory of the 550 Patriots 

WHO, LED BY COL. JOHN GlOVER, HELD 

Gen. Howe's Army in check at the 

BATTLE OF PELL'S POINT 

October 18, 1776, 

Thus aiding Washington in his 

Retreat to White Plains 

FAME is the perfume OF HEROIC DEEDS 

ERECTED BY BRONX CHAPTER OF MOUNT VERNON, N. Y. 

DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 

OCTOBER 18, 1901. 

On Pelham Road, midway between Westchester and Pelham, 
stands a mammoth oak tree that has been known since the days 
of the Continental army as "Spy Oak," said to be the largest of 
its kind east of the Rockies. 

It is related that from one of its lower branches soldiers of 
George Washington's forces hanged a British red-coat they had 
caught on a spying expedition, and even to 'this day it is averred 
that his spirit patrols the roadway near the scene of his ignomini- 



THROGG'S NECK 



131 



ous death at frequent intervals, and that his spectral form, its 
haughty carriage made more impressive by its military garb of 
long coat and heavy cape, may be seen particularly on nights when 
the moon is full and unhidden. 

Standing well back from Pelham Road, north of the "Spy 



■''\ 




Spy Oak, Pelham Road 



Oak" stands the quaint Paul homestead, said to have been built 
during the early days of the Revolution. 

Between Throgg's Neck and City Island are several islets^ 
bared at low tide, upon one of which is a Government lighthouse.. 
These are called the "Devil's Stepping Stones." 

Among the families having large estates on Throgg's Neck are 
the Havemeyers, the Huntingtons, the Morrises, the Browns, the 
Adees, the Costers, the Turnbulls, and the Jacksons. Upon the 
Huntington estate is a magnificent cedar of Lebanon, planted by 



132 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Philip Livingston, about 1790. William H. Harrison, the ninth 
President of the United States, once had a temporary residence on 
Throgg's Neck. 








Paul Humestead 




CHAPTER XVI 

CITY ISLAND AND EASTCHESTER 

The Blacksmith Who Refused to Shoe a Horse on Sunday — Scenes That Figure 
in the Fight for Independence — President John Adams in The Bronx. 

iITY ISLAND is a very delightful village, lying off Rod- 
man's Neck, and comprises 230 acres. Until recently 
it was connected with the mainland with a wooden 
bridge, which originally spanned the Harlem River, 
and some of the timbers of which had been taken from 
the old frigate North Carolbia. This antique bridge was replaced 
by the present steel structure, which cost $200,000, erected in 1898, 
and opened to the public July 4th, 1901, 

In the early days City Island was known as Minnewits, or 
Great Minnefords, Island, probably after Peter Minuits, the Dutch 
Governor and purchaser of Manhattan Island. It was a part of 
Pelham Manor, and was purchased from Thomas Pell by John 
Smith of Brooklyn. On June 19, 1761, the island came into the 
possession of Benjamin Palmer, who built the Free Bridge at 
Spuyten Duyvil. 

In 1761 the inhabitants of the island launched a scheme to 
build a city which would surpass New York — whence the name 
City Island. Several ferries were established to ply between 
the mainland and the island in order to further this project. The 
plan was checked by the Revolution, but was revived in 1790. 
The island was cut up into 4,500 lots of one hundred by twenty-five 
feet, which were sold at ten pounds each. In 1818 and in 1819 
Nicholas Haight, Joshua Hustace and George W. Horton owned 
nearly all of the island and Rodman's Neck. 

City Island is said to have been the first place in America 
where oyster culture was commenced. The old wooden bridge was 
always crowded on Sunday afternoon with anglers who found 
fishing in the water below very fruitful. City Island is also noted 
as a boat-building resort, and a laying-up place for racing craft, 
particularly of cup defenders of international fame. 

133 



134 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Many residents of Manhattan are attracted to City Island 
on Sundays and holidays by the facilities for bathing, rowing and 
fishing. Many city dwellers spend the summer on the island in 
tents, while numerous clubs have their summer camps here. 

City Island is reached by train on the Suburban branch of the 
New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad to Bartow Sta- 
tion. Up to very recently there was an old fashioned bob-tailed 



B^V^^fKLMpV^ 




Old City Island Bridge* 



horsecar which took passengers from the railroad station to Mar- 
shall's Corners at the end of Rodman's Neck for one fare of five 
cents, and to the end of the island, for another. This was replaced 
in 1910 by an electric monorail, which has not proved very suc- 
cessful. 

'IVi tl''^ c^'t of rif-v T^i-^i^'l 1''^- P-rt's Island, at one time owned 
by Oliver De Lancey, and later it passed into the possession of the 
Haights and Rodmans, then into the hands of John Hunter, and 
finally into the City of New York. To the north is High Island, 



CITY ISLAND AND EASTCHESTER 135 

and nearby are several rocky islets, called Rat Island, the Chim- 
ney Sweeps, the Blauzes and Goose Island. 

One of the landmarks of City Island is the Horton homestead, 
the oldest house on the island. Most of City Island was once com- 
prised of the Horton Farm. 

The "Macedonian Hotel" is another landmark which attracts 
wide attention. It is supposed to have been formed from part 
of the hulk of the English frigate Macedonian, which had been 
captured in the War of 1812 by Commodore Decatur. 

The inscription reads : This house is the remains of the Eng- 
lish Frigate "Macedonian," captured on Sunday, October 25th, 
1812, by the United States Frigate "United States" commanded 
by Capt. Stephen Decatur, U. S. N. The action ivas fought in 
Lat. 2h^ N., Long. 29^ 30' W., that is about 600 miles N. W. of the 
Cape dc Verde Islands off the W. coast of Afri?a and towed to 
Cou'bay in 187U. 

Mr. Stephen Jenkins in his Story of The Bronx cites a state- 
ment from the United States Naval Academy, by Park Benjamin, 
to the effect that, while the house is not the remains of the original 
British Macedonian, it is the remains of a second ship of that 
name, launched at Gosport, Virginia, in 18.36, rebuilt at Brooklyn 
in 1852, and broken up in 1874, at Cow Bay, Long Island. 

The picturesque old town of Eastchester with its ancient shade 
trees and interesting old houses, some of which date back to Col- 
onial days, is undeniably rich in historic memories. On the site 
of the old Joseph Morgan residence was once located a large In- 
dian settlement. Evidences of Indian occupation are found to this 
day in the forms of arrow-heads, shell heaps and stone hatchets. 
The Siwanoys had a fort on the hill directly in back of the Fowler 
mansion. On this hill the early settlers erected in 1675, a "Gen- 
eral Fort" for mutual protection. On the right of the road may 
be seen Odell's barns dating from Revolutionary days. 

Eastchester was included in Pell's purchase of 1654. Pell 
granted, on June 24, 1664, to James Eustis, Philip Pinckney, John 
Tompkins, Moses Hoit, Samuel Drake, Andrew Ward, Walter Lan- 
caster, Nathaniel Tompkins, and Samuel Ward, "to the number of 
ten families, to settle down at Hutchin.son's, that is where the house 
stood at the meadows and uplands, to Hutchinson's River." These 
ten families had migrated hither from Fairfield, Connecticut. The 
settlement became known as the "Ten Farms," and later, East- 



Il 



136 THE BOROUGii OF THE BRONX 

Chester. In 1666 the settlers purchased more land from the In- 
dians. Among the sachems who signed the deed was Annhooke,* 
the slayer of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson. On March 9th, 1667, Gov- 
ernor Nicolls granted the settlers a confirmatory patent. 

The famous old St. Paul's Church has an interesting past. 
It was built in 1765 to replace one erected in 1699 which had been 
destroyed by fire. During the Revolution, St. Paul's was used by 
the British at various times as a stable and as a hospital. After 
the war it served as a Court of Justice, and Aaron Burr, who 
fought Alexander Hamilton in a duel, pleaded many cases here. 
The Church-yard contains some 6,000 bodies, the oldest head-stone 
being that of "M. V. D." who died February 15, 1704. Some of 
the prominent families interred there are — Pinckneys, Fowlers, 
Drakes, Hunts, Odells, Underbills, Valentines, Sherwoods and 
others as famous. . 

The lawn opposite St. Paul's was used as the Colonial village 
green and here also stood the first church. It is said that between 
the group of locust trees, still standing, were the village stocks 
where offenders were punished. 

The Vincent-Halsey House on Columbia Avenue is another 
old landmark around M'hich is woven many an interesting tale. 
The Vincents were the village blacksmiths, and, being devout 
Christians would under no circumstances shoe a horse on Sunday. 
Adherence to this principle caused the death of one of the black- 
smiths, Gilbert Vincent. A French officer in the Continental army 
who had been despatched on some important business lost a shoe 
of his spirited mount as he was passing thru the village. The 
ofllicer led the horse to the Vincents' smithery but he was refused 
the shoe on the ground that such labor on the Sabbath was a 
desecration. Impatient to get away, and angered at what he con- 
sidered unpatriotic obstinacy and unfriendliness to the cause, the 
officer drew his sword and struck the pious blacksmith to the 
ground. This cold-blooded murder so incensed Elijah Vincent, the 
brother of the slain man, that he promptly obtained a commission 
in the British army and became the most vindictive and uncom- 
promising enemy the patriots had in the whole territory. Nothing 

* It was customary anions' the Indians for the chief of the tribe to assume 
the name of some noted victim of his prowess in order to appease the dead 
and to become endowed with the nobler qualities of the slain. 



CITY ISLAND AND EASTCHESTER 



137 



was considered safe from him and his associates, not even the 
old bell, the Bible and the prayer-book which had been presented 
to St. Paul's Church by Queen Anne. To safeguard these from the 
profaning hands of the marauding soldiery, which held nothing 
sacred, they were buried in the ground adjoining the edifice, where 
they remained until the close of the war. The Vincents moved 



1 




St. Paul's Church, Eastchester 



away when the British evacuated New York, and Col. W. S. Smith 
of the thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment, a distinguished officer 
of the Revolution and an aide of the staff of Washington, moved 
into the mansion. 

Col. Smith was a son-in-law of John Adams, and had been 
secretary of the American legation at London when his father-in- 
law served there as the first minister accredited to the Court of 
St. James by the young Republic. Subsequently he was United 
States Marshal for New York, a member of Congress from this 



138 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

city, from 1813 to 1816, President of the New York Order of 
the Cincinnati. 

The details of the celebrated Miranda expedition, in which he 
and his son were involved and which caused a profound stir in the 
country at the time, it is believed, were hatched in the Halsey 
mansion while he was its tenant, — altho on this point there is 
some doubt among historians. 

With the outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia, then the 
nation's capital. President Adams and his family accepted the in- 
vitation of Col. Smith and his wife, Abigail Adams, to make their 
home with them in the Bronx mansion. During this period the 
Halsey homestead, being the residence and office of the country's 
Chief Executive, was the center of the new Republic's official and 
social life. In the old library of the mansion, which was assigned 
to the President as an office, he dictated the policy of the Govern- 
ment and there indited a number of important papers. Believing 
that the fever which destroyed thousands in Philadelphia would 
not abate sufficiently to make it safe for him to venture there for 
the opening of Congress, he urged that the session be held in New 
Yoi-k. It would be more convenient for him, he said, to keep in 
touch with its deliberations from the Halsey mansion than would 
be possible if the session convened in the City of Brotherly Love. 
The following is one of his letters to Secretary of State Pickering, 
directing him how to forward the mails to him at the mansion : 

East Chester, 12th of October, 1797. 

To T. Pickering, Sec. of State. 

Dear Sir: I arrived here at Col. Smith's last night with my family and 
I shall make this house my home until we can go to Philadelphia with 
safety. ... If you address your letters to me at East Chester and 
recommend them to the care of my son, Charles Adams, Esq., at New York, 
I shall get them without much loss of time, but if a mail could be made up 
for East Chester they might come sooner. I know not whether this can be 
done without appointing a postmaster at this place, and I know of no one 
to recommend. I shall divide my time between New York and East Chester 
till the meeting of Congress. 

With great regards, etc. 

John Adams. 

By the friends of the Adams family it was considered a 
singular coincidence that years after they had left the Halsey 
mansion the body of George Washington Adams, son of President 



CITY ISLAND AND EASTCHESTER 18;l 

John Quincy Adams and grandson of President John Adams, should 
have drifted ashore on the Eastchester Creek, close to the old 
manse, following a drowning accident in 1829. In appreciation 
of the good offices of one of the wardens of St. Paul's Church who 
recovered the body, Mrs. John Quincy Adams, mother of the 
youth, presented a silver loving-cup to the church, which treasures 
it to this day as among its most precious heirlooms. 

Of late years the Halsey mansion has been the subject of in- 
ci-easing patriotic interest to historians and students of Colonial 




Old Reid's Mill, Eastchester 

times, in corresponding proportion to the steady disappearance of 
those buildings that have Revolutionary associations. 

Another notable landmark in Eastchester was the old Guion 
inn, a Revolutionary tavern erected in 1720 where Washington once 
stopped and mentioned in his diary that the roads were "uncom- 
monly rough and stony." It was here that Governor George Clin- 
ton assembled the State Council after the evacuation of New York. 
Among the existing relics of the past in Eastchester are the old 
Crawford house, opposite St. Paul's Church, an ancient tavern of 
Revolutionary days ; the old Groshon residence once the home of a 
Huguenot family, "Grosjean;" Old Point Comfort, a well-known 



140 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

inn of early days, recently rebuilt; and the antique Reid home- 
stead, at the foot of Mill Lane, Eastchester Creek, opposite the 
site of the old Reid's mill, which was erected in 1739, by Thomas 
Shute and Joseph Stanton, and which came into the possession of 
John Reid, a Scotchman. 

Eastchester, tho still a rural community, is falling in line 
with the development of the other sections of the Borough. The 
Boston Post Road is being made into a State road ; while the Bos- 
ton and Westchester Railroad will help materially to bring about 
a rapid growth of the town. Crossing the Boston Post Road, is 
Rattlesnake Brook, which bears testimony to the abundance of 
reptiles in this region. The stream is dammed to the east of the 
road, forming Holler's Pond, from which ice is cut to supply the 
neighborhood. About a mile from the Boston Road there is a 
lane leading to the vast stretches of salt meadows of Eastchester 
Creek. 




CHAPTER XVII 

WEST FARMS 

The Homes of Notable Men: Foxhurst, Brightside, Sunny side— The Quaint 
Presbyterian Church at the Graves Where Heroes Lie Buried — The Draft 
Riots During- the Civil War — "Wishing Rock," Where the Algonquin 
Braves Wooed the Fair Stockbridge Maids. 

IHE town of West Farms was formed from the town 
of Westchester, by an Act of Assembly May 13th, 1846. 
It includes the following villages: Fordham, Williams- 
bridge, Tremont, Fairmount, Belmont, Monterey, 
Mount Eden, Mount Hope, and Woodstock. Morrisania 
was originally a part of West Farms, but on December 7, 1855, it 
was formed into a separate township. In 1874, it was annexed to 
New York City. All the villages now form a part of the Twenty- 
third and Twenty-fourth Wards. 

Many quaint and interesting memories linger about West 
Farms of the old days. The old Hunt inn, better known as the 
"Fox Farm House," which stood on the west side of West Farms 
Road near One Hundred Sixty-seventh Street was until destroyed 
by fire on Easter Sunday, 1892, one of the oldest and most pic- 
turesque dwellings in West Farms, if not in the Borough. Many 
interesting relics were found in its walls. It was erected in 1666 
and stood on the large tract of land owned by Edward Jessup and 
John Richardson, whose daughters married Thomas Hunt, Jr., and 
Gabriel Leggett, respectively. 

During the American Revolution the old inn was the rendez- 
vous for British officers. Colonel James De Lancey, commander 
of the Loyalists in Westchester, frequently invited his brother 
officers over from Queens County for a fox hunt. The chase being 
started at the junction of West Earms and Westchester turnpike 
and the locality became known as "Fox Corners." 

Fo.rhurfst was another relic of bygone days. This splendid 
old residence stood at the junction of West Farms Road and West- 
chester Avenue, and was erected seventy-two years ago by William 

141 



142 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



W. Fox, president of the first gas company in America, who also 
was one of the first Croton Water Commissioners appointed by 
Governor Macy. 

On Westchester Avenue opposite Foxhurst Mansion, stood 
Brightside, the country seat of the late Colonel Hoe, the inventor 
of the "Hoe Lightning or Rotary Press." Richard March Hoe was 
born in New York, September 12, 1812. His father, Robert Hoe, 
came to New York from Lancashire, England, in 1803. A year 
or so later he settled in Westchester County and married Rachel, 




Old Hunt Inn 



daughter of Matthew Smith of North Salem, Westchester County, 
New York. With his brothers-in-law, Peter and Mathew Smith, 
he took up the manufacture of a hand printing press, and in 1833, 
became sole proprietor. A skilful mechanic, he constructed the 
original Hoe Press, and was, it is thought, the earliest American 
machinist to utilize steam as a motive power in his plant. 

Upon the death of Robert Hoe, in 1833, his son, Richard March 
Hoe, at the age of twenty-one, became the senior partner of the 
firm. He devised numerous ingenious improvements in the presses 
and in 1837 he also patented a fine quality of steel saws, the pro- 
duction of which became part of their business. In 1847 he pat- 
ented his lightning press, so called because of the rapidity of its 



The Bronx Gas & Electric Company 

Frisby and Walker Avenues 

Tel. Westchester, 500 

FT FCTRTdTY ^^^ power uses such as motors for manufacturing 
uLilJVJl Itlljl A M. purposes or sewinj? machines, washing machines, etc. 

FOR LIGHTING— using flame arcs, tungsten or carbon 

lamps. 



GAS 



FOR HEATING — using stoves, grills, chafing dishes, 
soldering irons an jn-essing household irons. 
FOR COOKING PURPOSES— using special stoves for 
Hotel and Restaurant work as well as Domestic Stoves. 
FOR HEATING WATER— in Automatic, Instantane- 
ous or Tank Water-Heaters. 

FOR ROOM HE.'VTING— using gas-steam radiators, 
gas-logs, gas grates or portable heaters. 
FOR SPECIAL INDUSTRIAL WORK, where heat, 
hot water or steam is required. 



inquiries Solicited 



'Phone for our representative 



Courteous Attention Given 



Metropolitan Dye Works 

WEIGLE &c FUNKE 

Cleaners and Dyers 



OFFICES 
(14 West 39th Street 
1140 East 49 th Street 
I 771 Third Avenue 
J74 Madison Avenue 
1 1500 Third Avenue 
Bronx and 180th Sts. 



First Class Work 
Reasonable Prices 
Prompt Delivery 



OFFICES 

352 Columbus Ave. 

514 Amsterdam Ave. 

2515 Broadway 

2645 Broadway 

45 East 125th Street 

591 West 181st Street 



Telephone Connections 



Telephone Connections 



Works at 180th Street and Bronx River 
j WEST FARMS, NEW YORK CITY 

iTelephone, 84 Tremont 



H. GOOSSEN 



DEALER IN 



Fine 
Groceries 

it: ^ 

Teas, Coffees, Spices, Etc. 
Fruits and Vegetables in Season 

ip if: 
1809 Crotona Avenue 

Telephone, 829 Tremont Near 175th Street 



What is the feeling one lacks when purchasing 
Piano from an unknown firm '.' Is it not "conflj 
deuce" V This feeling ran be dispellefl by calling oil 



WINTERROTH & CO. 



j PIANOS 



Telephone, 1516 Stuyvesanl 



105 EAST 14th ST, 
NEW YORK CITY' 

Subway Stalion at our door 



New Pianos, $200.00 and upwards 

Easy payments and no interest. "Inspectioa, 
invited." The wonder of the age ! 

The "Winterroth Player Piano." 

Call and let us demonstrate it. 



BRONX 
482 Tremont Ave. 



HARLEM 

14 West 125lh St. 



\ 



We make a specialty of 
TUNING & REPAIRING 




THE 

BEN 
HAT 

473 
Tremont 

Ave. 
BRONX 



MANUFACTURER OF 
FURNITURE SLIP COVERS 



COUCHES a DINING 
ROOM CHAIRS 




S. SINGER 



FOR THE TRADE 



telephone, 

Tremont 5494 



DECORATING a PARLOR SUITSt 
MATTRESSES AND 
CABINET MAKING 

820 TREMONT AVE,1 
BRONX. N. Y. 



Telephone. 984 Tremont 

H . R OLPH 

Successor to ROLPH & ROLPH 

Real Estate, Insurance and 
Mortgage Broker 

535 East Tremont Avenue NEW YORK 

Cor. Third Avenue Bronx Borough 

W. Edson Andrews, M.D.S., L.LB. 

University Grad. DENTAL OFFICE 

Assistant 

The Best in Modern Dentistry 

463 Tremont Avenue 

NEW YORK 



20 Years Experience 

Tel. 416-W Tremont 



Telephone, Tremont 984 

ERNEST ROLPH 

Attorney and Counselor at Law 

535 East 177th Street 

Cor. Third Avenue 

Borough of the Bronx NEW YORK) 

■( 

See HARRY C. JACKSON ! 

If You Want to EXCHANGE, BUY or SELlj 
REAL ESTATE I 

1419 Williens Avenue BRONX. N. Y. I 

Phone number 4022 Tremont | 



WEST FARMS 143 

motions. Afterwards he invented the web perfecting press which 
prints on both sides and includes a complicated apparatus for cut- 
ting and folding the sheet. This machine revolutionized the art of 
newspaper printing and permits the issuing of a "special extra" 
within a few minutes after the occurrence of an extraordinary 
event. The present Hoe Octuple Press prints 464 miles of news- 
paper per hour. The factory on Grand Street, New York, is said 
to be the largest printing works in the world. 

During the summer months Colonel Hoe repaired to his 
country seat in West Farms, where he owned an estate of sixteen 
acres, which he styled Brightside. Here he indulged his 
fancy for blooded cattle. The house, which was situated on the 
southeast corner of Westchester Turnpike and the road to Hunt's 
Point, now known as Southern Boulevard, was razed in 1908 to 
make room for suburban improvements. Col. Richard March Hoe 
died suddenly at Florence, Italy, June 7, 1886. 

Peter Hoe, nephew of R. M. Hoe, who added various improve- 
ments to the original Hoe printing press, also had his home, 
Sunnyside, in The Bronx. It was situated across Hunt's Point 
Road and was one of the finest residences in the Borough. 

At the junction of Boston Road and Minford Place is the site 
of the "Spy House." In this little building, it is said, lived an 
American spy, who played in the neighborhood a part similar to 
that of Cooper's spy at Mamaroneck. 

At Bryant Avenue and One Hundred Eightieth Street is the 
West Farms Presbyterian Church, built in 1815. During the 
Colonial and the Revolutionary periods of the Presbyterians in the 
lower part of Westchester County had no church of their own. 
This was considered by the New York Presbytery a good field for 
missionary work. Between the years 1718 and 1721 William Ten- 
nant, a Presbyterian clergyman, attempted to evangelize this sec- 
tion. In 1814 the Rev. Isaac Lewis divided his time between West 
Farms and New Rochelle. In the following year a church edifice 
was erected; the congregation was fully organized by the election 
of oflficers on November 5, 1818. By means of a legacy left to the 
church by Charles Bathgate Beck, in 1903, a new stone edifice, 
known as the Beck Memorial Presbyterian Church, was erected 
directly opposite the old church building which was for a time given 
over to a colored congregation. 

Adjoining the old church cemetery are interred many veterans 



144 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



of the Sixth New York Heavy Artillery who enlisted for the Civil 
War from West Farms and Westchester village, and who gave 
their lives in the service of their country. The West Farms Ceme- 
tery, where the remains of these soldiers are buried, had fallen 
into neglect ; the graves were sunken and the tombstones overgrown 
and almost obliterated. In 1907 a Mrs. Cunningham, the widow 
of a soldier, chanced to be passing by the graveyard at the time 
when the street was being widened, and noticed a number of bones 




West FAiiMS Cemetery 

being thrown into a cart. She drew the attention of the citizens 
of the Borough to the neglect of these honored graves and the 
disgrace of the city in forgetting its heroes. A committee, headed 
by Captain Charles Baxter, at once set about to prevent further 
desecration of the graves and to restore the cemetery to a respec- 
table condition. A board fence was erected by the Borough in 
July, 1908 ; while in October, 1909, a monument was erected by 
public subscription which was dedicated with appropriate cere- 
monies on May 29th, 1910. Three brass cannon, shell, and a 
flagpole were presented by the United States Government for 
decorative purposes. The most distinguished of those buried within 



WEST FARMS 145 

the cemetery is Captain William J. Rasberry, of Company C, Sixth 
New York Artillery who was killed during "Sheridan's Ride," 
at Cedar Creek, Va., October 19th, 1864, while leading his men up 
the hill. Within the plot are the remains of eleven soldiers, two 
of them of the War of 1812. 

During the Civil War, many individual soldiers enlisted from 
all parts of the Borough, while the following companies were re- 
cruited almost wholly in the places given; Sixth Artillery, Com- 
pany C, wholly, and Company K, partially, at West Farms; Com- 
pany H, in Morrisiana; Fifth Infantry (Duryea's Zouaves), 
Company F, partially, in Fordham ; Seventeenth Infantry, Com- 
pany C, Morrisiana; One Hundred Seventy-sixth Infantry (Iron- 
sides), Company G, in Pelham. 

When the "Copperhead" element of the Borough read, on 
July 14th, 1863, of the riotous resistance to the draft on Manhattan 
Island the preceding day, they banded together, attacked the draft 
offices at Morrisania and West Farms and destroyed the lists. They 
then demolished the telegraph offices in Melrose and Williams- 
bridge and proceeded to tear up the rails of the Harlem and New 
Haven Railroads in order to prevent the arrival of troops and 
outside assistance. They did not, however, go the lengths of 
their rebellious neighbors. The mobs were soon quieted by the 
appeals of Supervisor Caldwell and Pierre C. Talman. 

On the evening of the fifteenth a meeting was held in the town 
hall of Tremont where the crowd was addressed by John B. Haskin 
and Pierre C. Talman. The speakers managed the mass of excited 
and ignoi-ant men with considerable diplomacy, first flattering them 
with the statement that they were right in their resistance to the 
draft, and then appealing to their sense of self-respect and order. 
The mob was finally pacified by the appointment of a committee "to 
wait on Moses G. Sheard, Esq., Federal Provost Marshal of the 
district, to insist that the draft be stopped till the State could de- 
cide whether it was constitutional." At the same time the news 
that troops had arrived in New York and discomfited the mobs 
there also acted as a tonic, and quiet and order were once more re- 
stored. * 

The Isaac Varian homestead, also known as the Valentine 
House, at Van Cortlandt Avenue and Woodlawn Road, was erected 

* Stephen Jenkins, The Story of the Bronx. 



146 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



in 1776 while the old wing, now destroyed, dates back to 1770. An | 
encounter occurred here in 1777 between the British and the Ameri- 
cans, the Continentals driving their foes out of this house and along 
the Boston Post Road to Fort Independence. 

On the 17th of January, 1777, General Heath, in compliance 
with General Washington's orders, began an attack against Fort 
Independence. It was intended by this means, even if the fort was 
not taken, to cause the British to withdraw some of their troops 
from New Jersey and Rhode Island. General Lincoln advanced 




Isaac Varian Homestead 



by the Albany Post Road to the heights above Van Cortlandt Park ; | 
General Scott came from Scarsdale to the vicinity of the Valentine ' 
house on the Boston Road, between Williamsbridge and Kings- 
bridge, while Generals Wooster and Parsons marched from New 
Rochelle over the Boston Road. 

The three divisions arrived at the enemy's outpost just before 
sunrise. Lincoln captured the outpost in the front at "Upper Cort- 
landt's." Heath ordered the cannonade of the Valentine House, if 
the guard resisted, and he stationed two hundred and fifty men 
between the house and Fort Independence to prevent the guard 
from retreating to the fort. Two mounted British pickets were 
espied fleeing to give the alarm. One was captured, but the other 



METAL CEILINGS 



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and 

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WRITE! 



JULIUS OEHRLEIN 



Tel. 1517 Tremont 



1840 Bathgate Ave. 



BRONX 



Appraiser, Estates Mana^ed. Buying, Selling. 

Renting and Collecting. Mortgage 

Loans Negotiated. 

Cornelius B. Parker 
Real Estate and Insurance 

2543 Walker Ave., Westchester. New York City 
Commissioner of Deeds 

Phone, Melrose 41.?9 

Schutte=Smith Company 

COMMERCIAL 
OFFICE OUTFITTERS 

2383 - - 2585 - - 25B7 Third Avenue 
Near 139th Street 

BRONX, N. Y. 

The Waukrite Shoe Co. 

SHOES and HOSIERY 

426 Mott Ave. New York 

Near 14«th .St. 
A. W. KENT, Manager. 



S. J. VENECEK & CO. 

Makers of 
Fine Cigars 

3269 Third Avenue 

Box Trade a Specialty 




The Phenomenal Increase in Value of Real Estate in the Various Italian "Colonies," 

which in many Cases, During the last Fifteen Years, have become the Central 

Points of the City and the most sought after Sections of their Kind. 



The first Italian "Colony" began to establish itself in the section below the well known "Five Points 
and in the vicinity of Mulberry Street. At that time this was considered the worst spot in the City of 
New York, populated as it was by people of questionable character who maintained houses wliicli 
were the retreats and resorts of thieves gangmen and malefactors of assorted variety. Only in this en- 
vironment, where the dregs and social scum of the metropolis gathered, could a poor Italian rent an 
apartment. Being looked upon liy owners of houses as a member of an undesirable element, a poor Italian 
could not rent anything better, and had to be content to pay his honest hard earned money for theso 
nests of filth and indecency. Gradually, however, the sterling worth and thrift of the Italian procured the 
means to oust their shiftless, immoral neighbors through ownership of the houses, and in a few years the 
sons of Italy became absolute masters in that section. But for a long time after the predominance of 
the ItaUan was assured, in fact until several years ago, the Mulberry Street Italian quarter was gener- 
ally admitted to he one of the poorest and filtiiiest sections of New York, a place where tuberculosis 
and infectious diseases ran rampant and caused thousands of unnecessary, premature deaths. 

As opposed to the deplorable conditions of twenty years ago, we have today an outcome almost 
past beUef. The City of New York is about to acquire the property around Mulberry Street and the 
"Five Points" and will erect many magnificent i^ublic buildings on the sites so obtained. The County uf 
New York will have in the group of new structures an imposing now Supreme Court to replace the anti- 
quated "Tweed" Court House now in < 'ity Hail Park This Italian quarter, therefore. wiU become one of 
the most expensive and important sections of tlic City. So we have a condition where land which 30 
years ago had a limited value of S7,000 per lot, has today a market value of S30,000 for the same parcel. 
It is further beyond any cavil or doubt that in a few years more, the fortunate owners of property ad- 
jacent to the new park and civic center will be able to dispose of their buildings for niore than ^,50.000 
per city lot. 

Many comparisons of this kind could be made, but it would require space that might burden the 
reader. Rather let us discuss the present opportunities, more important to the investor. 

There is a section in the Borough of The Bronx called Fordham. It is situated east of Third Avenue 
near the Southern Boulevard and 183rd Street. Bronx Park and Pelham Avenue. To have a proper idea 
of the favorable increase which the Itahan Colony affords to the City of New York, it is sullicient to 
consider that not more than five years ago. this locality was occupied by a limited group of modest Ital- 
ian laborers who rented small tumbledown houses, so as to be near their work on the streets which 
were being laid toward Bronx Park. Pelham Avenue and other places. At that period, land in this local- 
ity was sold from .K.SCKJ to $1,000 per lot, and not even at these prices could purchasers he found. Now. 
however, that is. during the last five years, the neighborhood is changing as if by magic, the small rustic 
houses vanish gradually, and are substituted by enormous buildings "Apartment Houses," which respon- 
sible Italian contractors erect in full conlormity with modern hygienic systems and elegance; each apart- 
ment being furnished with the most luxurious comforts: steam heat, bath, electric light, telephone etc. 

With all t hese favorable conditions, it is necessary to know that today the Italian who goes to li\ 9i 
in The Bronx lias reached a degree which leaves him nothing to wish for regarding his mode of living, 
neither has he any reason to euv,\- the houses and ajiartments of the Americans in etiual circumstances so- 
much so, that as soon as a building is coTnpleted, it is taken at once by high-class Italian mechanics, 
who so much desire to breathe a little pure air, away from the deafening noises of commerce and far 
away from the odors of the numerous factories placed one on top of the other in the centre of the Cit.\'. 

The builders, encouraged in their work, are doing their utmost to acquire this small tract of land 
which four years ago was sold at an average of $1.,'jOO per lot, and which to-day sell at prices rangingi 
upward from .S4,000, The typographical position of the locality, which does not permit of extensions. is| 
a guarantee that in a short space of time it will double in value. Two sides of the property abut oa- 
Bronx Park, one other on Third Avenue and the fourth on 180th Street. A limited area of land in a lo-i 
cality always produces rapid increases in value. 

A further contribution to the many conditions of Fordham which work for prosperity is the largei 
commercial traffic of ISTth Street. Here is located a commercial center, the advantages of which arai 
readily accessible to the neigliboring residents. Thus is afforded an opportunity to shop with great econ- 
omy while living under the most favorable conditions, and with a splendid investment lor the future. 



=R 



WEST FARMS 147 

escaped and alarmed the British outposts, who ran for the fort. 
They were fired upon by the Americans, and one of them was taken 
prisoner. 

Built into the walls of the Church of the Holy Nativity, located 
at Woodlawn Road and Bainbridge Avenue, are three old tomb- 
stones, two of the Bussing family, dating 1753, and one of the 
Valentine family. 

Opposite the Catholic church is the site of the old John Wil- 
liams' house, erected about 1753, the home of the family after 
which Williamsbridge is named. The house was sold in 1903 to 
an Italian for firewood. 

On White Plains Road near Williamsbridge Square stands 
a little Revolutionary house painted red, shot full of holes by 
British riflemen. 

The Hustace house, Two Hundred Twenty-first Street, one of 
the oldest landmarks of the I'egion, can be seen facing an old white 
house on a disused lane. 

On the northeast corner of Two Hundred Twenty-second 
Street and White Plains Road, stands the Haven house. Within this 
old house are many relics of early Colonial days, which have been 
preserved with great care. Here may be seen the high back rush- 
bottomed chair in which General Washington sat while paying 
ofl^ his ragged army after the battle of Chatterton Heights, at 
White Plains in 1776. There is also a rocker belonging to George 
Clinton, the first governor of the State of New York; also a ma- 
hogany bedstead on which Commodore Perry died. 

Mrs. Martha Clinton Havens was the adopted daughter of 
General James Clinton of Newburgh, the brother of Governor 
Clinton. It is said that the piano now in Washington's headquar- 
ters at Newburgh, belonged to Mrs. Havens. The brass cannon 
on the lawn was taken from the British by General Harrison at 
the battle of Tippecanoe, in 1814. 

On the corner of Two Hundred Twenty-eighth Street stood 
the shingled house, torn down in 1885, which was used for a time 
by 'Washington as headquarters. 

The Chateauneuf residence, on the south side of Two Hundred 
Thirty-first Street, west of White Plains Road was built about 
1853 and was the refuge of the widow and four children of the 
Marquis de Chateauneuf, former governor of Touraine, who fled 
from France to escape espionage. 



148 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



West of Webster Avenue and almost opposite the Union Rail- 
way car barns on the old Hyatt farm, stands an unpretentious 
one-and-a-half-story building that played an important part in 
the early days of the Revolution, and in which Washington when 
hard pressed and in danger of Lord Howe's and General Von 
Knyphausen's advance from Pell's Point, thought it prudent to 
store some of his cannon so that he could make quicker progress 
in his retreat to White Plains. The house is known today as 
"Washington's Gun House," while the adjoining settlement was 
called Washington ville. 




Washington's Gun House 



When the land hereabouts was still the uninvaded country of 
the Indians, the copper-skinned maidens of the Stockbridge braves 
of the Algonquins, who lived in a neighboring village, selected as 
a trysting place an immense rock under a group of willow trees 
on the bank of the Bronx River. It is said that at this beautiful 
spot one of the fairest daughters of the Stockbridge tribe was 
wooed by the son of an Algonquin chieftain and that when he 
carried her off as his bride the boulder was named the "Wishing 
Rock." After the white men had driven the Indians from this 
region the legend of the rock remained, and until a half century 
ago it was still a rendezvous for lovers. The section is now known 
as Wakefield. 

The Penfield homestead, which stood, until it was almost de- 



WEST FARMS 149 

stroyed by fire on the morning of May 13th, 1912, at Demilt Avenue 
and Two Hundred Forty-second Street, east of White Plains Road, 
was erected over a century ago. It was formerly occupied by the 
Pauldings, the De Milts and the Penfields. Within its old Colonial 
walls Justices Marshall and Jay, as well as Aaron Burr, and Cap- 
tains Ayres and Paulding of the Continental troops, were sheltered 
under its roof, and their names were cut in the small old fashioned 
panes of glass with which the windows were decorated. 

At Demilt Avenue once stood the Thirteen Trees planted in the 
early days by a relative of the Paulding who helped to capture 
Major Andre, the British spy. They have all yielded to the onward 
march of progress; the last one, a black walnut, measuring three 
feet eight inches at the butt, having been cut down a few years 
ago. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

FORDHAM MANOR 

Edgar Allan Poe and His Cottage at Fordham, Where He Won a Niche in 
the Hall of Fame That He had Not Dreamed of — Frederick Philipse 
Whose Ships Brought Fortunes to These Shores. 




HE Poe Cottage in Fordham has been the 
shrine for many a pilgrimage. Edgar 
Allan Poe was born in Boston, January 19, 
1809, and died forty years later in Balti- 
more. While he was one of the most tal- 
\. ented and original literary geniuses, he was also 
f one of the most unfortunate of men, and his 
'^ whole life was a struggle with want and poverty. 
He was a man of varied moods, and gifted with 
an extraordinary imagination. His writings have 
been reproduced in many languages, yet his work 
met with poor compensation. For "The Raven," which has been 
read and recited wherever the English language is spoken, he 
received the sum of ten dollars. This justly celebrated poem was 
written at the old Brennan House on Riverside Drive, near West 
Eighty-eighth Street, Manhattan. 

It was in the little cottage at Fordham, where he lived from 
1845 to 1849, that he produced some of his literary gems, and 

150 



PORDHAM MANOR 151 

where he spent some of his most gloomy hours. It was there, also, 
that he lost his wife, Virginia, whom he had married when she 
was barely thirteen years old. Poe's devotion to his child-wife 
was one of the mo.st beautiful features of his life, and many of 
his famous poetic productions were inspired by her. She was but 
twenty-five when she died. 

It was in this cottage, too, that Poe poured forth his amatory 
effusions to Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman, the Rhode Island poetess, 
sixteen years his senior. These passionate love epistles were writ- 
ten two years after the death of his wife, Virginia, and within a 
few months of his own death, and they culminated in a promise of 
marriage. The engagement was broken off on the eve of marriage 
by the interference of friends. 

The following extracts from Poe's letters to his betrothed in- 
dicate his warmth of affection. 

"Fordham, Sunday night, Oct. 1, 1848. 

I have pressed your letter aKaiii and again to my lips, sweetest Helen — 
bathing it in tears of joy, or of divine despair! ..." 

"The mere thought that your dear fingers would pres.s — your sweet eyes 
dwell upon characters which had welled out upon the paper from the depths 
of so devout a love — filled my soul with a rapture which seemed then all- 
sufficient for my human nature. . . ." 

"If ever, then, I dared to picture for myself a richer happiness, it was 
always connected with your image in Heaven. 

"As you entered the room ... I felt . . . the existence of spiritual 
influences ... I saw that you were Helen — my Helen — the Helen of a 
thousand dreams- — she whose visionary lips had so often lingered upon my own 
in the divine trance of passion — she whom the great Giver of all Good pre- 
ordained to be mine — mine only — if not now, alas! then at least hereafter and 
forever in the heavens. . . . Your hand re.sted in mine and my whole soul 
shook with a tremulous ecstasy. . . . " 

"You are aware, sweet Helen, that on my part there are insuperable 
reasons forbidding me to urge upon you my love. Were I not poor — had not 
my late errors and excesses justly lowered me in the esteem of the good — were 
I wealthy, or could I offer you worldly honors — ah, then — then — how proud 
would I be to persevere — to sue — to plead — to pray — to beseech you for your 
love — in the deepest humility — at you feet — at you feet, Helen, and with 
floods of passionate tears! . . ." 



152 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

"October 18, 1848. 

"... You do not love me, or you would have felt too thoro a sympathy 
virith the sensitiveness of my nature, to have so wounded me as you have done 
with this terrible passage of your letter: 'How often have I heard men and 
even women say of you — "He has great intellectual power, but no principle, no 
moral sense." ' Is it possible that such expressions as these could have been 
repeated to me — to me — by one whom I loved- — ah, whom I love — at whose 
feet I knelt — I still kneel — in deeper worship than ever man offered to God? — 
And you proceed to ask me why .such opinions exist. ..." 

"Friday the 24th. 

"You allude to your having been 'tortured by reports which have since 
been explained to your entire satisfaction.' On this point my mind is fully 
made up. I will rest neither by night nor by day until I bring those who have 
slandered me into the light of day — until I expose them and their motives to 
the public eye. I have the means and I will ruthlessly employ them. . . ." 

The following brief note of joyous assurance from Poe to Mrs. 
Clemm, heightens the tragedy: 

"My Own Dear Mother: We shall be married on Monday, and will be 
at Fordham on Tuesday, in the first train." 

Poe's life was brimful of .sorrow. His grandfather, General 
David Poe, served with credit in the Revolutionary War, and was 
known to Washington and to Lafayette. His father was intended 
for the bar; but against the wishes of his family, he married an 
English actress, Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins, the daughter of the once 
celebrated actress, Mrs. Arnold, and joined her on the stage. Edgar 
was but two years of age when both parents died in Richmond 
within a few weeks of each other, and the orphan was adopted by 
John Allan, a wealthy Richmond merchant, from whom he received 
his middle name. Here he was treated like one of the family, and 
the coddling and over-indulgence accorded him is responsible for 
his being a "spoilt child" thruout his life. 

Poe was given excellent educational opportunities by his foster- 
father. In 1815 he was taken on a tour thru England and 
Scotland and placed in the Manor House School, Stoke Newington, 
about four miles from London. When he returned to Richmond 
six years later, he was placed in the English and Classical School 
of Joseph H. Clarke, where he was prepared for college. At the 



FORDHAM MANOR 153 

age of seventeen he entered the University of Virginia, where he 
excelled in the languages and in athletics. He took high honors in 
Latin and French. But he fell into heavy gambling debts, and at 
the end of the first year Mr. Allan withdrew him from college 
and put him to work in his counting house. 

Poe determined to make his own fortune, and he ran away 
to Boston where he soon issued his first book, Tamerlane and other 
Poems. Poor and friendless, he now enlisted in the army. He 
must have been an efficient soldier, for he was promoted to sergeant- 
general. Thru the influence of Mr. Allan, he was allowed to 
enter West Point; but not being able to stay long under restraint, 
he deliberately gave such ground for off"ence that he was court- 
martialed and dismissed. 

He now turned to literature for a livelihood. By winning a 
prize of $100 for a short story, he gained the admiration of John 
Kennedy, the novelist, who rescued him from poverty by securing 
for him magazine hack work. He brought about an enormous in- 
crease in subscription for every periodical with which he was 
connected, but his excesses kept him in the throes of poverty and 
wretchedness. 

At this time he was living with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, and 
her daughter, Virginia, in Baltimore, but he soon moved to Rich- 
mond, where he married his young cousin in 1835. 

His indulgence in opium and intoxicants increased, and he 
was often plunged into dire penury. In 1838, he removed to New 
York, but he met with little success, and he had to keep up an in- 
cessant struggle to keep the wolf from the door. In 1841 his wife 
ruptured a blood vessel, and the next six years were full of misery 
and agony. For the sake of his wife's rapidly failing health, he 
removed, in the summer of 1845, to "the Little Dutch Cottage in 
Fordham." 

Poe's devotion to his wife was steadfast. There is a tender 
letter dated June 12th, 1846, addressed to "My Dear Heart — My 
Dear Virginia." "Keep up your heart," he wrote, "in all hopeful- 
ness, and trust yet a little longer. On my last great disappoint- 
ment I should have lost courage but for you — my little darling wife. 
You are my greatest and only stimulus now, to battle with this un- 
congenial, unsatisfactory and ungrateful life." 

In 1848 Poe became betrothed to Mrs. Whitman, but the en- 
gagement was broken ofl' on the eve of the wedding. In June, 



154 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



1849, he revisited Richmond and became engaged to Mrs. Shelton. 
On September 18th, 1849, he wrote from Richmond to Mrs. 
Glemm: "// possible I will be married before I start, but there 
is no telling. ... I hope that our troubles are nearly over. 
. . . The papers are praising me nearly to death." But Poe 
was doomed never to remarry. In October, while on the way to 







".■ /J 


"" \A' 1 






my y 

1 /' 




FoRDHAM Dutch Reformed Church 



Fordham, he stopped off at Baltimore, where he was found lying 
in the street unconscious. He died later in the City Hospital and 
was interred in the burial ground of Westminster Church near 
the grave of his grandfather. His wife's body, which had been 
buried in the cemetery of the old Dutch Reformed Church at 
Fordham, was removed in 1878 and laid beside that of her de- 
voted husband. 

N. P. Willis, an intimate friend of Poe, describes him thus: 



FORDHAM MANOR 155 

"He was at all times a dreamer — dwelling in ideal realms — 
in Heaven or Hell — peopled with the creatures and the accidents 
of his brain. He walked in the streets, in madness or melancholy, 
with lips moving in indistinct curses, or with eyes upturned in 
passionate prayer (never for himself, for he felt or professed to 
feel that he was already damned), but for their happiness who 
at the moment were objects of his idolatry or with his glances 
introverted to a heart gnawed with anguish and with a face 
shrouded in gloom, he would brave the wildest storms, and all 
night with drenched garments and arms beating the winds and 
rains would speak as if the spirits that at such times only could 
be evoked by him from the Aidenn, close by whose portals his 
disturbed soul sought to forget the ills to which he might never 
see but in fitful glimpses, as its gates opened to receive the less 
fiery and more happy natures whose destiny to sin did not inspire 
the doom of death. 

"He seemed, except when some fitful pursuit subjugated his 
will and engrossed his faculties, always to bear the memory of 
some controlling sorrow. The remarkable poem of 'The Raven' 
was probably a reflection and an echo of his own history. He 
was that bird's — unhappy master, whom unmerciful Disaster fol- 
lowed fast and followed faster, till his songs one burden bore — 
'Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore of 'Never — 
never more' !" 

Whatever faults or failings Poe may have had when he was 
alive, he stands today as a worthy American poet and prose writer. 
The fact that his name has been carved with other prominent 
Americans in the "Hall of Fame" is sufficient proof of the respect 
and admiration in which he is held by the American public. 

The Philipse manor-house at Yonkers, located close to the 
boundary, deserves our attention, for the Philipseburgh Manor 
was included within the Borough until June 1, 1872, when the 
City of Yonkers was incorporated. Tradition says that it was here 
that George Washington courted the beautiful Mary Philipse when 
he was the guest of Colonel Robinson wjiile on his horseback jour- 
ney from Virginia to Boston, twenty years before he became the 
great leader of the Revolution. 

It is not known whether Washington was simply backward in 
asking for her hand or whether he was actually rejected. At any 
rate. Colonel Roger Morris was the successful suitor, and shortly 



156 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

afterward the fashion, the rank, the beauty and the scholarship of 
Yonkers were assembled at the manor-hall to celebrate the nuptials. 
Morris had been a fellow-soldier with Washington on the field of 
Monovgabela, where Braddock fell, in the summer of 1755. He 
built, shortly after his marriage, the fine mansion at One Hundred 
Sixtieth Street and Edgecombe Avenue, which was the residence, 
until her death in 1865, of Madame Jumel, the widow of Aaron 
Burr. Morris remained loyal to the crown, and when Washington 
encamped with his army upon Harlem Heights in the fall of 1776, 
he fled for safety, and Washington, for a time, made this mansion 
his headquarters. 

The Philipse manor-house was erected in 1682, by Frederick 
Philipse, a wealthy shipowner, who had fought his way from ob- 
scurity to power and wealth, having been a poor carpenter lad when 
he landed upon these shores from Holland. He abandoned carpen- 
tering and engaged in the fur business. Fortune smiled upon him 
when he married Margaret Hardenbroeck, the widow of a rival fur- 
trader, Pietrus Rudolphus De Vries. She not only was a great help- 
mate, but she established him as a man of wealth and influence. 

Frederick Philipse secured to himself, by purchase from the 
Indians and grants from the Dutch government, all the land from 
Spuyten Duyvil Creek and the Harlem River on the south to the 
Croton River on the north, and between The Bronx and the Hudson 
River on the east and west. In 1693 this vast estate was formally 
erected by royal charter into a manor under the title of Philipse- 
borough and Philipse was invested with all the privileges of a lord. 
It embraced the site of the present city of Yonkers in the very 
heart of which may be seen the pioneer manor house erected in 
1682. In this pretentious manor-hall the courtly aristocracy of the 
province were wont to meet in gay and joyous throng. There still 
swings in the center of the southern front a dark, massive door 
which was manufactured in Holland in 1681 and imported by Mrs. 
Philipse. This old manor-house has had an eventful history. It 
was occupied by the Philipse family until 1776, when the "Third 
Lord of the Manor" fled to England and the property was confis- 
cated by the Americans in 1779. 

Frederick Philipse, the third and last lord of the manor, was 
a graduate of King's College, and was a scholarly gentleman with 
literary tastes. His wife was a devotee of fashion. It is said that 
it was her pride to appear on the roads of Westchester, skilfully 



FORDHAM MANOR 157 

reining four jet-black steeds with her own hands. She was killed 
by a fall from her carriage shortly before the war. Frederick 
Philipse tried to maintain a strict neutrality during the war in 
order to protect his property; but he failed, for he was a loyalist 
at heart. Suspected of favoring the British, he was compelled to 
fly for safety after the battle of White Plains. Washington and 
his generals spent several nights under the terraced roof of the 
manor-hall. It is said that Washington occupied the southwestern 
chamber. It is an immense place and has an old fashioned fireplace 
with jambs about three feet deep, and faced in blue and white tile 
bearing scriptural illustrations and appropriate references. The 
chimney — now over two hundred years old — is of peculiarly quaint 
construction, and has a secret passageway from this apartment to 
some underground retreat. The bricks of which it was built were 
imported from Holland. Until a few years ago it was used by the 
municipal authorities of Yonkers for its City Hall. 

That Philipse was the best-housed man in the colony is ap- 
parent, for on every side is evidence of the luxury enjoyed by him 
and those coming after him. The old house contains many inter- 
esting relics of former days. The "Wishing Seat" near the open 
fireplace has been well patronized as is evidenced by its hollow 
bottom. In the council room there is a bust of Washington; also 
an antique chair, said to have been used by him when he had his 
headquarters there. 

Yonkers is a very old Dutch town, and began its existence in 
the days of New Amsterdam, as the Colony of Colen Donck, being 
the property of Adrien Van Der Donck, who in 1646, obtained title 
to a tract of land extending sixteen miles along the Hudson River, 
north of Spuyten Duyvil and thence east to the Bronx River. This 
tract included what is now the city of Yonkers, and the entire 
southwestern part of Westchester County. 




CHAPTER XIX 

HISTORIC KINGSBRIDGE 

Fort Independence and Other Old Fortifications — Story of General Richard 
Montgomery, the Hero of Quebec. 

AT the unveiling of a bronze tablet, marking the 
site of Fort Number One, by the American Scenic 
and Historic Preservation Society upon the east 
side of the handsome residence of Mr. William 
C. Muschenheim at Spuyten Duyvil on Novem- 
ber 5, 1910, Lieutenant Stephen Jenkins, author 
S«?^'" ^^ -^'^^ Story of The Bronx, who delivered the 
General Richard historical address at the exercises, spoke with- 
MoNTGOMERY out exaggeration when he said : "With the pos- 
sible exception of the Mohawk Valley, the Tyron 
County of Colonial days and the Lake Champlain region, there is 
no section in New York State which possesses such romantic, 
legendary and historic interest as the County of Westchester, par- 
ticularly the Kingsbridge section. One can not help feeling a 
thrill as one travels over this historic ground. Wherever one goes 
or wherever one looks, he finds something of historic interest." 

The Kingsbridge section was a bone of contention dur- 
ing the early part of the Revolutionary War. When 
the question of taking measures for the defence of the 
Colonies was proposed in the Continental Congress, a discussion 
arose that was long and earnest, for many members yet hoped for 
reconciliation. On the very day that a British reinforcement at 
Boston with Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne entered that harbor, 
Duane, of New York moved, in the Committee of the Whole, the 
opening of a negotiation, in order to accommodate the unhappy dis- 
putes existing between Great Britain and the Colonies, and that 
this be made a part of the petition to the King. But more deter- 
mined spirits prevailed, and a compromise was reached on the 25th 
of May, 1775, when directions were sent to the Provincial Congress 
at New York to preserve the communications between the City of 

158 



HISTORIC KINGSBRIDGE 



159 



New York and the country by fortifying posts at or near Kings- 
bridge. 

The Provincial Congress at New York appointed a committee 
consisting of Captain Richard Montgomery, Henry Glenn, Robert 
Yates and Colonels James Van Cortlandt and James Holmes (these 
last two of Westchester County, both of whom later became loyal- 
ists) "to view the ground at or near Kingsbridge, and report to 
this Congress whether the ground near Kingsbridge will admit of 
making a fortification there, that will be tenable." 



I 



C'^ THEFOUNDATIONOF-THISHOUSEIS-APART-OF 'dO- 

FORT= NUMBER = ONE . 

WHICHWAS'ERECTEDBYTHECONTINENTAL-ARMY 

lNAUGUST-1776 

'- ':0CCUPtED-BYTHEBRmSHN0VEMBER-71776 

DISMANTLED IN 1779 

AND REMAINED •DEBATABLE ■ GROUND" UNTIL 

THE- CLOSE- OFTHEAMERICANREVOLUTION 

ONE OFA CHAIN OF- EIGHT- FORTS NORTH AND -EAST -OF 
SPUTTENDUYVIL- CREEK- AND-HARLEM-RIVEREXTENDING 
FROMTHIS-POINT - TO • THE - SITE - OF- NEW-YORK- UNIVERSITY 
:i ERECTED BY- Wa-C-MOSCHENHEIM- 1910 ( 



Bronze Tablet, Fort Number One 



The committee reported June 3d, 1775, and recommended that 
a post of three hundred men be established on Marble Hill, near 
Hyatt's tavern, Manhattan, and selected sites on Tetard's Hill to 
the east on Tippet's Hill to the west of the bridge for the establish- 
ment of redoubts to be built by the troops. About two hundred 
and fifty cannon of all shapes, sizes and material were dragged 
from the city to Kingsbridge, Williamsbridge and Fordham Manor. 

In every circle apprehension was felt lest Kingsbridge should 
fall into the hands of the British and communication with the rest 
of the country be cut off. Early in June, 1776, Washington himself, 
after driving Howe out of Boston, came over to Kingsbridge. He 



160 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

carefully inspected the neighborhood, and selecting seven suitable 
sites for redoubts, promptly gave orders to commence the work of 
erecting fortifications. Two of these redoubts — the Cock Hill Fort 
overlooking the mouth of Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and a fort on 
Marble Hill, afterwards called by the British, Fort Prince Charles 
— were on the island of Manhattan; the remaining five were in the 
Borough. 

The location of the chain of fortresses overlooking the valley 
of Kingsbridge which have been designated by numerical names 
by the British who captured them in October, 1776, is as follows : 

Number One forms the foundation of Mr. W. C. Muschen- 
heim's house on Spuyten Duyvil Hill, west of the junction of 
Sydney Street and Independence Avenue. It was a square stone 
redoubt so built as to command the Hudson and Spuyten Duyvil 
Creek. 

Number Two was the American Fort Swartout, named in honor 
of Colonel Abraham Swartout, whose regiment built it, as well as 
a small battery at the mouth of the creek near the site of the 
Spuyten Duyvil station of the New York Central and Hudson River 
Railroad. This battery was to prevent the enemy from entering 
the creek in boats. It was a small circular redoubt on the crown 
of Tippett's Hill northeast of the intersection of Sydney and Troy 
Streets. The walls still remain. 

Number Three, a small stone redoubt, was located on the crest 
of Spuyten Duyvil Hill and commanded the junction of the Spuyten 
Duyvil road and the present Riverdale Avenue, as well as the ex- 
treme northerly end of Manhattan Island opposite the fort on 
Marble Hill, called Fort Prince Charles. The site of Fort Number 
Three is occupied by the Warren Sage house. 

Number Four, the American Fort Independence, was the 
largest and perhaps the most important of all. It was situated on 
the farm of Captain Richard Montgomery, on the eastern side of 
the valley formed by Tetard's Hill on the east and Tippett's Hill 
on the west, and it commanded the Boston and Albany roads 
which were on either side of it. It was built of bastioned 
earthwork by the Pennsylvania Line, assisted by the 
militia, under the direction of Colonel Rufus Putnam who 
had constructed Fort Washington. On October 28, 1776, upon 
the approach of the Hessians under General Knyphausen, Colonel 
Lasher, the American commander, destroyed the barracks and 



HISTORIC KINGSBRIDGE 161 

abandoned the fort, leaving behind the cannon and three hundred 
stand of arms. The British held the fort until September, 1779, 
when their troops were withdrawn to the south. The site of Fort 
Independence is now occupied by the residence of the late William 
0. Giles, Esq., on Giles Place near Fort Independence Street ; when 
the cellar was dug there were unearthed eleven cannon, several 
cannon balls, calthorns and other military relics. 

Number Five, lately restored and marked by a flag-pole, was 
a square redoubt of about seventy feet, north of the Claflin stables, 
of the old Tetard farm, and commanded the Farmer's Bridge. It 
was occupied by the British from 1777 to September 18, 1779. 
Its remains can be seen east of Sedgwick Avenue at the southwest 
corner of the Jerome Park reservoir. When the excavations for 
the reservoir were begun, there were unearthed cannon-balls, 
bayonets, swords, buttons and other relics, including several skele- 
tons. In the summer of 1910, Messrs. Reginald P. Bolton, Edward 
Hagaman Hall, and W. L. Calver excavated the ground within the 
old redoubt and found the remains of brick fire places and regi- 
mental buttons of privates of the 13th Pennsylvania regiment and 
of the following British infantry regiments : 4th, 10th, 17th, 26th, 
28th, 44th, 52d, 54th, 57th, 64th and 71st Highlanders, and also 
an officer's button of the 17th British. 

Number Six, also called by the British the "King's Battery," 
was situated a short distance west of the present road to High- 
bridge, on the grounds of the Bailey estate on Fordham Heights, 
adjoining the Kingsbridge Road, now occupied by the Roman 
Catholic Orphan Asjium. The remains of the fort were about 380 
feet 'northeast of the Bailey mansion. In excavating for the 
foundations of the Asylum buildings, it was necessary to destroy 
the old redoubt. Several relics of the Briti.sh occupation were un- 
earthed, among them some coins bearing the imprint of George II., 
the oldest yet found within the Borough. 

Number Seven, no trace of which remains, stood on the Oswald 
Cammann estate at Cammann Place and Fordham Road. 

Number Eight, which was located on Fordham Heights on the 
grounds of the present New York University, commanded the Har- 
lem River, the American outwork on Laurel Hill (Fort George), 
the Kingsbridge Road from Harlem, and the northern outworks 
of Fort Washington at Inwood, afterwards called Fort Tryon. It 
was maintained by the British about three years longer than the 



162 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

other posts, and it served to protect Colonel De Lancey's canton- 
ment from the American attacks. It also guarded the pontoon 
bridge over the Harlem River and served as an alarm post to the 
garrisons at the northern end of Manhattan. But the Americans 
did not heed the presence of the fort, and made many raids on 
De Lancey's corps. When the Hessians arrived in Kingsbridge in 
November, 1776, work was begun upon the redoubt, and by the 
fifteenth of the month it was ready for use. The following day an 
attack upon Fort Washington was begun by Fort Number Eight, 
which resulted in the fall of the former. The British now strength- 
ened Number Eight and maintained it thruout the war. Health 
writes in his Memoirs: "On the 20th of October, 1782, the enemy 
were demolishing their works at Number Eight, Morrisania." In 
1857 the late Justus H. Schwab built his residence on the site of 
the old redoubt. When the old fort was dug up many relics were 
unearthed and carefully preserved. Among these were cannon- 
balls, grape-shot, English coins, uniform buttons, bridle ornaments, 
pike tips, and military paraphernalia. The buttons indicate that 
the fort was occupied by the following British regiments, or de- 
tachments of them: 8'th, 17th, 33d (Lord Cornwallis), 37th (Eng- 
lish Muskateers), 38th, 45th, 74th, and 76th (Scotch). The Schwab 
mansion, as well as the entire Schwab estate was acquired in 1907 
by the New York University. 

In October, 1776, after the Battle of Pell's Point the American 
troops were withdrawn from Kingsbridge and the forts fell into 
the hands of the British. In 1779, the scene of hostilities was 
shifted to the south, and many of the British troops were with- 
drawn. By the middle of September of that year all the redoubts, 
with the exception of Number Eight, which was maintained till 
the end of the war as a base for operations of De Lancey's corps, 
were demolished, and the guns and stores removed to Manhattan. 
None of these redoubts was occupied by either side again, except 
Fort Independence, which was occupied for a few days by General 
Lincoln and the Marquis de Chastellux during the grand reconnais- 
sance of the allied armies in the summer of 1781, but it was not 
restored or fortified. 

Interwoven with the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx is the 
story of General Richard Montgomery, who had a farm here, and 
who upon his death, was lauded both in the Continental Congress 
and in the British Parliament. 



HISTORIC KINGSBRIDGE 163 

Richard Montgomery was born in Ireland December 2, 1736. 
He entered the English army at the age of eighteen, and distin- 
guished himself under Wolfe in his brilliant conquests in the 
French wars. He fought with the colonists in five important cam- 
paigns, and for valiant services he was promoted to the rank of 
captain. 

He returned to England, but his claims for advancement be- 
ing neglected, he sold his commission in 1772, and the following 
year he repaired to this country. He purchased a farm of sixty- 
seven acres at Kingsbridge, where he soon after won the hand of 
Janet, daughter of Judge Robert R. Livingstone. In May, 1775, 
he reluctantly yielded up his domestic happiness and consented to 
act as delegate to the first Provincial Congress in New York City ; 
and in June of the same year the Continental Congress made him 
a brigadier-general in the Continental Army, the second on the 
list of eight, and the only one not from New England. 

It was discovered that Carleton, the British Governor of 
Canada was enlisting the French peasantry in an expedition to re- 
cover Ticonderoga. The Continental Congress therefore decided 
to occupy that province as an act of self-defense. The command 
of the enterprise was assigned to General Schuyler, with Mont- 
gomery second in command. 

Montgomery was regarded with pride and affection as, bidding 
farewell to his lovely home and recently wedded joys, he turned 
his face to the uninviting northern frontiers. His young wife, 
who accompanied him to Saratoga, little thought that she was kiss- 
ing good-bye for the last time this princely "soldier," — as she was 
fond of calling him. 

Thru the illness of the superior officer, the entire command 
devolved upon Montgomery. With a force of 1,000 men he captured 
the fort at Chamblee and the post of St. John on November 3, 
took Montreal on the 13th, and pushed on to Quebec. 

Montgomery's letters display his noble enthusiasm, his con- 
tempt for cowardice and his self-sacrificing patriotism. "The 
other day," he wrote to his wife, November 24, 1775, "General 
Prescott was so obliging as to surrender himself and fourteen or 
fifteen land officers, with above one hundred men, besides sea of- 
ficers and sailors, prisoners of war. I blush for His Majesty's 
troops! Such an instance of base poltroonery I have never met 
with ! And all because we had a half a dozen cannon on the bank 



164 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

of the river to annoy him in his retreat. The Governor (Carle- 
ton) escaped — more's the pity! Prescott, nevertheless, is a prize." 

It was on the 3d of December that Montgomery made a junc- 
tion with Benedict Arnold, and soon decided to carry Quebec by 
storm. Arnold with rare boldness and persistence had conducted 
a detachment of Washington's army thru a tractless wilderness 
of nearly three hundred miles. Their provisions had fallen short 
towards the last so that it is said some of the men had eaten their 
dogs, cartouch-boxes, breeches and shoes. They had lost half their 
number. 

Montgomery, who had been made a major-general on Decem- 
ber 9, found it necessary to storm Quebec at once. He was un- 
provided with means for a prolonged siege; the Canadian winter 
was drawing on with all its rigor ; the army was being reduced by 
sickness ; the term for which part of the troops had enlisted would 
expire with the year, and they already talked of returning home. 
Whatever was to be done would have to be concentrated within the 
month of December. 

"Till Quebec is taken Canada is unconquered," he wrote to 
Congress. To his wife he wrote : "They are a good deal alarmed in 
town (Quebec) and with some reason ... I wish it were well 
over, with all my heart, and sigh for home like a New-Englander." 

The attack was made at 2 o'clock in the morning of the 31st 
of December during a heavy snow-storm, Montgomery himself 
leading his men and rallying them on. "Forward, men of New 
York !" he cried, "you will not fear to follow where your general 
leads." They passed the first barrier, and Montgomery paused for 
a moment to cheer his troops : "Push on, my brave boys. Quebec 
is ours!" Suddenly he was laid low with his two aides by the first 
and only discharge of the British artillery. His soldiers, discour- 
aged by the loss of their leader, retreated in great confusion. 

His death was regarded as a great public calamity and foes and 
friends alike paid tribute to his valor. The governor, the lieuten- 
ant-governor of Quebec, and all the principal officers of the garri- 
son, buried him with the honors of war. At the news of his death 
"the City of Philadelphia was in tears; every person seemed to 
have lost his nearest friend." Congress proclaimed for him "their 
grateful remembrance, respect and high veneration ; and desiring to 
transmit a truly worthy example of patriotism, conduct, boldness 
of enterprise insuperable perseverance, and contempt of danger 



HISTORIC KINGSBRIDGE 165 

and death," they reared a marble tablet in front of St. Paul's 
Church, Broadway and Vesey Streets, New York City, which had 
been procured by Franklin in France. In the British Parliament, 
Barre wept profusely when he heard of Montgomery's death. 
Burke eulogized him as the hero, who in one campaign, conquered 
two-thirds of Canada. To which Lord North replied : "I can not 
join in lamenting the death of Montgomery as a public loss. Curse 
on his virtues! He was brave, able, humane, generous; but still 
he was only a brave, able, humane and generous rebel." "The 
term rebel," retorted Fox, "is no certain mark of disgrace. All 
the great asserters of liberty, the saviors of their country, the 
benefactors of mankind have been called 'rebels.' We owe our 
constitution which enables us to sit in this house to a rebellion." 
The remains of Montgomery were removed in 1818 in com- 
pliance with a special act of the Legislature, and were deposited 
near the monument which the United States Government had 
erected in his memory. The ceremonies were conducted on a most 
brilliant .scale. The tablet bears the following inscriptions: 

This Monument is erected by the order of Congress 25th Janry, 1776, 
to transmit to Posterity a grateful remembrance of the patriotism conduct 
enterprize & performance 

of Major General RICHARD MONTGOMERY 
who after a series of successes amidst the most discouraging Difficulties 
Fell in the attack on 

QUEBEC. .31st Decbr., 1775. Aged 37 Years. 

The State of New York 

Caused the Remains of 

Maj. Genl. RICHARD MONTGOMERY 

to be conveyed from Quebec 

and deposited beneath this Monument 

the 8th day of July 

1818 

Montgomery's will is still extant and bears the signature of 
Benedict Arnold. To his sister Sarah, Lady Ranelagh, he left his 
estate of Kingsbridge. Doubt is cast upon the genuineness of the 
Montgomery house on Fort Independence Street. Thomas Henry 
Edsall, the historian of Kingsbridge, states that the original house 
was burned and completely destroyed by the British during the 
Revolution. William Ogden Giles, who bought the property and 



166 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

built his own house on the site of Fort Independence, which had 
been erected on the Montgomery farm, maintained that it is the 
original Montgomery house, and pointed to the fact that its beams 
are of hewn oak, a sure sign of antiquity 







CHAPTER XX 

THE VAN CORTLANDTS 

The Old Public-Spirited Colonial Family Who Figured Prominently in Ameri- 
can History — Cortlandt Manor Founded, 1697 — Pierre and Philip Van 
Cortlandt Who Scorned England's Promises and Favors and Espoused the 
American Cause. 

AN CORTLANDT PARK perpetuates the name of the 
old and honorable family who established Cortlandt 
Manor, and who played a prominent part in New 
York during the Colonial and Revolutionary periods. 
Oloff Stevenson Van Cortlandt, the founder of the 
family in America, came to New Amsterdam in the same 
vessel with Kieft, on March 28, 1638, as an officer in the ser- 
vice of the West India Company. He was a lineal descendant of the 
Dukes of Courland in Russia. When deprived of the duchy of Cour- 
land, his ancestors emigrated to Holland. The family name was Ste- 
vens, or Stevenson, van (from) Courland, and they adopted the lat- 
ter as a surname, the true orthography in Dutch being Kortelandt, 
signifying "short-land." Oloff Stevenson Van Cortlandt was made 
a commissary of the shop, or customs office, in 1639, and he had 
charge of the public stores of the company until 1648. He then 
became a merchant and brewer, and rose to the position of being 
one of the richest men in New Amsterdam. In 1654, he was ap- 
pointed Burgomaster (mayor) of New Amsterdam, which office 
he held almost without interruption until 1664, when the Dutch 
colony was surrendered to the British. He died in New York, 
April 4, 1687. 

Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the son of Oloff S. Van Cortlandt, 
born May 4, 1643, became at the age of thirty-four, the first native- 
born mayor of New York City, and held that office almost con- 
secutively till his death, November 25, 1700. At the time of Leis- 
ler's Rebellion (1689-1691), he was one of the Royal Counsellors, 
and having opposed Leisler, the self-styled "Cromwell" of New 
York, he was obliged to fly from the city to avoid imprisonment. 

167 



168 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Leisler sent a constable to the house of Mayor Van Cortlandt 
to obtain the city charter, seals, records, etc., which would lend 
dignity to his office. Van Cortlandt was not at home. A committee 
was appointed to wait upon Mrs. Van Cortlandt and demand them 
of her. She received the committee politely, but declined to give up 
anything which had been left in her care by her husband. A ser- 
geant-at-arms next visited her but when she learned his errand 
she cooly shut the door in his face and defied his blustering threats. 
An effort to find and imprison Van Cortlandt was then made, but 
without success. Stephanus Van Cortlandt lived with his wife, 
the beautiful Gertrude Schuyler, daughter of the mayor of Albany, 
on the corner of Broad and Pearl Streets until his estates were 
erected into a manor by patent from William III., on June 17, 1697, 
and he subsequently built the first Cortlandt Manor house on the 
shore of Croton Bay. The main portion of the edifice was the ori- 
ginal block-house built by Governor Dongan in the early part of 
his administration as a rendezvous for fishing parties and con- 
ferences with the Indians. Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who in 1683 
was appointed by the King of England one of Dongan's privy coun- 
cil, usually accompanied him on these expeditions, and subsequently 
purchased land thereabouts from the Indians — 85,000 acres, ex- 
tending to the Connecticut line. The block-house, which with its 
solid stone walls three feet thick, and loop-holes for musketry pro- 
vided for the emergencies of life in a savage wilderness, was con- 
verted into a commodious dwelling. 

The lords of Cortlandt had the privilege of sending a repre- 
sentative to the Provincial Assembly, and the manor was held by 
a feudal tenure, for which the rent of forty shillings (about $10.) 
was paid annually to the crown on the feast-day of the Annuncia- 
tion. 

Jacobus Van Cortlandt the third son of Oloff Stevenson Van 
Cortlandt, and the seventh and younger member of the family, 
born July 7, 1658, was a member of the first three William and 
Mary assemblies, and also in 1702-1709. He was the mayor of New 
York in 1710 and also in 1719. He was a large landholder and one 
of the most prominent men of his time. He married Eva, the 
adopted daughter of Frederick Philipse, the "Dutch millionaire" 
and lord of the manor of Philipseburgh, then extending along the 
Hudson River from below the present site of Riverdale, northerly 
to the mouth of Croton River above Sing Sing. By purchasing 



THE VAN CORTLANDTS 169 

fifty acres of land on George's Point from his father-in-law and 
about one hundred acres from the neighboring landowners, Jaco- 
bus Van Cortlandt became the owner of the chief part of the pres- 
ent City of Yonkers lying below the Philipseburgh estate, including 
the present Van Cortlandt Park, Riverdale, Kingsbridge, etc. The 
title was subsequently confirmed by the Indians in 1701 for "two 
fathoms of duffels and £1 2s 6d ($5.62) current money of New 
York." His estate in Yonkers was bought by New York City from 
his descendants and was made part of Van Cortlandt Park. 

During the Revolution the proprietors of Van Cortlandt Manor, 
Pierre and his son Philip Van Cortlandt, espoused the American 
cause despite the fact that the Philipses and the younger branches 
of the Van Cortlandt family remained Tories. Augustus Van Cort- 
landt, grandson of Jacobus and ancestor of the Yonkers branch of 
the Van Cortlandt family, was a loyalist. On August 18, 1776, he 
was obliged to flee, for he had been warned that Tory-hunters were 
on their way to capture him. While he was concealed in a cow- 
house for ten days, a conscientious Dutch farmer walked back- 
wards, when he carried him his meals, in order to be able to swear 
he had not seen him. At last he reached the British lines on Staten 
Island in safety. 

The staunchest allies of Washington during his critical posi- 
tion in New York were Pierre and Philip Van Cortlandt. Both 
father and son had nobly declined the offers of royal favors, honors, 
grants of land, and if they would abondan the popular cause, made 
by Tryon when he visited them at the old manor-house for a few 
days in 1774. The younger Van Cortlandt destroyed a major's 
commission which Tryon had sent him. 

Pierre Van Cortlandt, grandson of Stephanus, was born in 
Cortlandt Manor, January 10, 1721. He was a member of the 
first Provincial Congress of New York ; chairman of the Committee 
of Public Safety; and he was exceedingly active in the patriot 
cause. He was one of the thirty-eight men who ratified the Dec- 
laration of Independence on horseback at While Plains, on the 9th 
of July, 1776; and from October of the same year, when elected 
vice-president of the Convention, was almost the sole presiding 
officer of that heroic body until it completed its labors. He was the 
first Lieutenant-Governor of New York State, to which office he was 
elected in 1777, and he acted in that capacity consecutively for 
eighteen years until he declined re-election. Governor Clinton be- 



170 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

ing much absorbed in military duties, Van Cortlandt was chief 
executive and civil magistrate during a greater portion of the 
Eevolution. So obnoxious was he to the British government that 
it set a bounty on his head. His undismayed faithfulness when 
driven from his estates, and when adverse clouds darkened the 
entire horizon proved a source of inspiration among all classes in 
the State of New York. He died in Cortlandt Manor, May 1, 1814. 

Philip Van Cortlandt, son of Pierre, was born September 1, 
1749, and died unmarried at the Van Cortlandt manor-house, No- 
vember 21, 1831. He was graduated from King's College in 1758 
when he became a land surveyor. When the war broke out he was 
elected to the Provincial Assembly which met in New York City, 
May 23, 1775, to choose delegates to the Continental Congress. He 
was later appointed lieutenant-colonel in the American army, and 
he commanded the regiment detailed to guard the public stores 
at Peekskill. In the spring of 1776, he was on duty at Ticonderoga, 
and a member of a court-martial for the trial of Moses Hazen, 
charged by Benedict Arnold for disobedience of orders. "I re- 
mained," he wrote in one of his letters, "long enough to discover 
the vile conduct of Arnold in procuring a vast quantity of goods 
from the merchants of Montreal, which he intended for, and which 
I believe was appropriated to his own use. For this, and also for 
improper conduct before the court, he would have been arrested 
himself, but escaped by procuring an order from General Gates 
to send me the morning after the court adjourned, to Schenes- 
borough (Whitehall) by which means the court was dissolved and 
Arnold escaped." 

Philip Van Cortlandt fought gallantly at Bemus Heights and 
at Saratoga. The Battle of Saratoga, which resulted in the sur- 
render of Burgoyne, October 17, 1777, was a decisive battle in the 
war, for henceforward the Americans were no longer "rebels" but 
patriots fighting against oppression and wrong. The British were 
beginning to fear imminent disgrace, and the talk of reconciliation 
became prominent in Parliament. 

In 1778, he was sent to protect the New York frontiers against 
the Indians under Brant, and in 1780 he was one of the Court- 
martial convened in Philadelphia to try Benedict Arnold for im- 
proper conduct. Arnold had been living in high style and gave 
sumptuous entertainments at a time when his accounts with the 
government were as yet unsettled. He was known to have made 



THE VAN CORTLANDTS 171 

temporary use of the public moneys passing thru his hands. 
He had married Margaret Shippen whose family were not in sym- 
pathy with the American cause. And yet Arnold was a crippled 
soldier who had fought bravely at Quebec and in other significant 
battles. It was not therefore surprising that he was let off with 
a reprimand which Washington administered with consummate deli- 
icacy. But Philip Van Cortlandt and the four other officers who had 
served on the Hazen trial knew well the true character of the one 
who so soon afterwards turned out to be a despicable traitor. "We 
voted for cashiering him," wrote Van Cortlandt in his diary, "but 
were overruled by a sentence of reprimand. Had they all known 
what we knew he would have been dismissed the service." 

In 1780, Philip Van Cortlandt commanded a regiment under 
Lafayette; was with him at Virginia; and for his gallant conduct 
at Yorktown was promoted to brigadier-general. With the con- 
clusion of the War, he did not retire and live on the fat of his lands, 
but he continued in the public service. He became a Commissioner 
of Forfeitures of the counties of Westchester, Richmond, Kings, 
Queens, and Suffolk, and the first supervisor of the town of Cort- 
landt in 1788. He served in both branches of the New York legis- 
lature, and he was also a delegate of the State convention that 
adopted the National Constitution. He was member of Congress 
from 1793 to 1809, and a presidential elector in 1812. He was one 
of the original members of the Cincinnati, and its first treasurer. 

He was on terms of intimacy with Lafayette and he accom- 
panied him thru the United States on his memorable tour in 
1824. His personal resemblance to Lafayette was on one occasion 
turned to decided advantage. At a large reception Lafayette, be- 
coming weary of handshaking, suddenly disappeared, leaving 
Van Cortlandt as his substitute. The multitude did not discover 
the change and went away satisfied with having, as they supposed, 
grasped the hand of the French nobleman. 

Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr., son of the Lieutenant-governor, 
was fond of recounting his first meeting with Washington. Being 
a lad of fourteen at the breaking out of the war, he was sent to the 
new college at New Brunswick for his education. His father wrote 
him a letter introducing him to Washington who was then in New 
Jersey. Young Pierre presented the letter, but his courage oozed 
away in the stately presence, and when invited to dinner the next 
day he stammered a faint "Yes." When the time drew nigh for 




172 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

him to appear again before the great personage, he was overcome 
with timidity and after going a little way towards headquarters, 
he turned about and ran home. The next morning he accidentally 
met Washington, who, before the youngster could escape, exclaimed, 
"Master Cortlandt, where were you yesterday?" The boy tried 
to articulate an excuse. "Master Cortlandt," interrupted Wash- 
ington with grave solemnity, "Mrs. Washington and myself ex- 
pected you at dinner yesterday; we waited a few moments for you ; 
you inconvenienced my family by failing to keep your word: you 
are a young lad, Master Cortlandt, and let me advise you, hereafter, 
when you make a promise or an engagement, never fail to keep it. 
Good morning. Master Cortlandt!" 




CHAPTER XXI 

PELHAM AND WESTCHESTER 

Thomas Pell the Founder of Pelham Manor — The Glittering Pageant of Lord 
Howe's Troops to Impress the Westchesterites with the Strength of the 
British Army — History of St. Peterte Church, Westchester. 

PELHAM MANOR derived its name from 
Thomas Pell, the first permanent settler of 
that region. Thomas Pell was an English 
gentleman and an ardent royalist. Previ- 
ous to his coming to America he had been 
Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles 
I. Obliged to leave the colony of New 
Haven because he refused to swear allegi- 
anc<i on the ground that he had already 
taken oath in England, he came to West- 
Rev. Isaac Wilkins Chester, where, on November 14, 1657, he 
purchased from the Indian sachems, 
Maminepoe and Annhooke, 9,166 acres including the estate form- 
erly owned and occupied by Anne Hutchinson. 

In the center of a large field in front of the Bartow mansion, 
now the summer home of the Crippled Children's Association, are 
the remains of the Pell Treaty Oak, where Thomas Pell smoked 
the pipe of peace with the Siwanoy Indian chiefs after signing the 
deed which gave him possession of "all that tract of land called 
Westchester which is bounded on the east by . . . Gravelly 
Brook, and so running northward . . . about eight miles, thence 
west to ... a certain bend in Bronck's River, thence by marked 
trees south until it reaches the tide waters in the Sound . . . 
together with all the islands lying beyond that tract." 

The village of Westchester, which was called by the Dutch 
Oostdorp (East Farms in contradistinction to West Farms), while 
the whole region was known as Vriedelandt (Land of Peace), had 
been included in the Dutch purchase of 1640. When the news of the 
Pell purchase reached Governor Stuyvesant, he despatched, on 

173 



174 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

April 19, 1655, Marshall Claes Van Elslant to warn "Thomas Pell 
and other trespassers" that the same land had already been bought 
of the Indians and paid for by other parties, and to order the in- 
truders to leave the spot. When Van Elslant arrived at Oostdorp 
on the twenty-second, he was confronted by a band of armed men. 
Undaunted, he jumped ashore, and tho at once made prisoner, he 
read the writ and then handed it to Pell, who said : 

"I cannot understand Dutch; why did not the Fiscal send it in 
English? If you send it in English then I shall send an answer 
in writing. But it's no matter;- we expect the ships from England 
and Holland which are to bring the settlement of the boundary." 

The marshal was later released and permitted to return to 
New Amsterdam. 

Stuyvesant then planned an expedition to surprise the in- 
truders at night, drive them from Oostdorp and burn their houses. 
The expedition, however, did not set out until March 6, 1656. When 
the Dutch reached Oostdorp eight days later, they found the set- 
tlers prepared for them; but they soon disarmed them and took 
twenty-three of them prisoners to New Amsterdam. Yielding to 
the pleadings of the wives of the prisoners the Dutch released them 
upon their payment of the expenses of the expedition and their 
promising to leave the colony within six weeks. 

On the sixteenth of March, the settlers drew up a petition 
to the Dutch, praying permission to remain at Oostdorp and offer- 
ing allegiance to "the Governor of the Manattas," provided that 
they be permitted to manage their local affairs. This the governor 
and council forthwith granted, content with the establishment of 
their claim to the Vriedelandt. 

For eight years the settlers of Westchester remained under 
Dutch jurisdiction. On March 23, 1664, Charles II., as a prelim- 
inery step toward declaring war with Holland, vested in his 
brother James, the Duke of York and Albany, the Dutch province 
of New Netherland. The Duke of York accordingly organized an 
expedition, consisting of four ships and four hundred and fifty land 
troops, under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls, accom- 
panied by Governor John Winthrop of Connecticut. 

The ships reached New Amsterdam on September 6, 1664, — 
just about the time when the settlers of Westchester were peti- 
tioning the New England authorities to aid them in overthrowing 
the Dutch claims to their property. Stuyvesant and his council- 



PELHAM AND WESTCHESTER 175 

lors, realizing their unpreparedness for war and the superiority of 
the invading English, surrendered to Nicolls without any show 
of resistance. 

Colonel Nicolls became Governor of New York, and all those 
who held deeds from the Dutch Company were given new ones in 
the name of the Duke of York. Pell's purchase of 1654 was oc- 
cordingly confirmed on October 6, 1666, by the governor, and a 
patent was granted him creating him Lord of Pelham Manor, "as 
if he had held the same immediately from his majesty the King of 
England." The annual quit-rent was a lamb "if the same shall be 
demanded." 

Pell's possession comprised 9,166 acres. Of this tract John 
Pell, nephew of the first owner, sold 6,100 acres to Governor 
Leisler in 1688 for the Huguenot settlement of New Rochelle, now 
the city of that name in Westchester County. Pelham township, 
of the same county, was also part of the original Pelham Manor. 
The portion belonging to the Borough comprises what was once 
Annes Hoeck (later called Pell's Neck) and Rodman's Neck, as 
well as Hunter, Twin, Hart, High and City Islands. 

Thomas Pell died in September, 1669, at Fairfield, Connecticut. 
He bequeathed "his lands and houses in any part of New England, 
or in ye territoryes of ye Duke of York," to John Pell, in England, 
the only son of his only brother, the Rev. Dr. John Pell. This John 
Pell, who is supposed to have been lost in his yacht off City Island 
in 1702, was succeeded by his son Thomas, whose descendants were 
proprietors of Pelham, down to the fourth and last lord of the 
manor, who died in 1776. 

The original Pell manor-house was situated on the east side 
of the Eastern Boulevai'd, near the present Bartow mansion, 
tho another authority says it was located on the extreme end 
of Pelham Neck. The story runs that while Pell was looking 
for a site to build his dwelling he noticed nests of fish-hawks in the 
oaks and chestnuts near Pelham Neck. He was at that time 
possessed of a superstition that where this bird nested there good 
luck would come. The word Pelham is formed from Pell and Ham 
(Home). 

Between the Bartow mansion and the Sound is the Pell family 
burial ground. The four stone corner-posts bear the coat-of-arms 
of the Pell family — a Pelican Gorged — and each has a different 
inscription, as follows: 



176 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

North: South: 

Indian Grant Royal Patent 

of Oct. 25, 1687. 

Pelham Manor James II. 

to to 

THOMAS PELL JOHN PELL 

Nov. 14, 1654. 2nd Lord of the Manor 

First Judge, 1688 

and First Member 

Provincial Assembly 

1691 

East: OP Westchester County 

Pelham Bay Park 

1884 West: 

Erected 1891 Royal Patent 

BY descendants OF Oct. 6, 1666. 

BENJAMIN PELL Duke of York 

grandson OF to 

THOMAS PELL THOMAS PELL 

Lord of the Manor Ist Lord of the Manor 



The large stone in the center was erected in 1862 by James 
K. Pell and it is inscribed: 

"This stone is placed here in token of respect for the memory of . . . 
several of the descendants of John Pell, who was born in the year 1643 and 
died in the year 1700, the son of the Rev. John Pell, D.D. and the nephew 
of Thomas Pell, the first proprietor of the Lordship and manor of Pelham, 
born in the year 1603 and died in the year 1669." 

The oldest inscription reads : 

"HER LYES ISEC PELL D. DEC. 14, ANNO 1748." 

On the other side of Split Rock Road or Collins Lane along 
which the Americans retreated, stands the pre-Revolutionary Col- 
lins mansion or Joshua Pell house which is fast crumbling away. 
At the foot of Prospect Hill is the finest Pell mansion of all, now 
remodeled and modernized. The splendid group of pine trees sur- 
rounding the house, shade the magnificent columns on either side 
of the doorway. The unique iron lattice-work forms a pretty bal- 
cony. On the opposite side can be seen the family coat-of-arms. 

At the corner of Wolf's Lane and Boston Road is another 
modernized Pell house where it is said Howe and his officers seized 
the very last turkey of the people living there and dined unbidden. 



PELHAM AND WESTCHESTER 



177 



In the woods not far from the large stone Pell mansion is the "Lord 
Howe chestnut" beneath whose unbrageous branches Lord Howe 
and his officers lunched with a number of Westchester loyalists 
whom he had invited for the occasion. On the morning of October 
23, 1776, Westchester County beheld a most magnificent pageant. 
Preparatory to pursuing Washington towards White Plains, Lord 
Howe drew up for review his entire army consisting of about 10,- 
000 men each clad in his Sunday uniform. The soft green of the 
Hessians formed a charming contrast with the brilliant scarlet 




Lord Howe Chestnut 



of the British regulars, while the bright arms of the troops glis- 
tened in the sunlight. After riding along the lines to inspect the 
army, Howe and his officers with the loyalist gentlemen, sat down 
at noon to partake of some refreshments. "Let us hope, however," 
we read, "that the meal of these fine gentlemen was not spoiled 
by the presence of that rough old German, the Count Von Kny- 
phausen, who tho a dashing soldier and a brave man, was no 
courtier and anything but a pleasant dining companion." 

Pelham Neck, which was called by the Dutch Annes Hoeck, or 
Ann's Neck, is situated between the Sound on the north and East- 
chester Bay on the south, and is the largest of all the necks in the 



178 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

Borough. The end of the neck opposite City Island with which it is 
connected by a bridge, is known as Rodman's Neck, after Samuel 
Rodman who purchased it from one of the manor-lords of Pelham. 
It is separated from the mainland by salt meadows over which the 
tide ebbs and flows. The City Island road passes over the meadows 
on a causeway. 

Hunter's Island, which was originally part of the manor of 
Pelham and is now included in Pelham Bay Park, was sold by 
Joshua Pell to the Hunts and Hendersons, and after the latter it 
was at one time known as Henderson's Island. In the latter part 
of the eighteenth century it came into the possession of John 
Hunter, of Scotch descent, from whom the island received its pres- 
ent name. On the crest of the island is the Iselin mansion, which 
had been erected about 1850 by Elias des Brosses Hunter, son of 
John Hunter, but which was owned by Columbus Iselin at the time 
Pelham Bay Park was formed in 1888. This mansion is now used as 
the summer home of the "Little Mothers" Society of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church. Opposite the gate-posts is the Hunter's Island 
Inn, formerly the mansion belonging to Elizabeth De Lancey, a 
daughter of Elias des Brosses Hunter. It is said that Joseph 
Bonaparte ofl'ered a large sum for Hunter's Island before making 
his home at Bordentown, New Jersey. 

On the southeast side of the island are the great Indian rock 
"Mishow," — around which the Indians used to conduct their reli- 
gious and other rites, — and the graves of two Indian sachems. On 
the northeast is a great boulder known as the "Gray Mare." Many 
Indian relics have been found in the neighborhood, including ar- 
rows and javelins of flint, quartz, and horn, and hatchets and 
tomahawks of stone. The Indian name for the entire region was 
Laaphawachking (the place of stringing beads). 

Passing the white stone gate-posts on the Eastern Boulevard, 
the road on which the Boston Mansion is situated, we reach the 
causeways connecting the two small islands called the "Twins" 
with Hunter's Island. One of the grandest marine views can be 
soon from the Ogden mansion on the outer Twin Island. 

In August, 1814, during the War of 1812, an engagement took 
place off Pelham and New Rochelle between the American gun- 
boats and the British warships. What saved the Americans was 
the knowledge of the many rocks and reefs hereabouts. There is 
a story current among the old residents that one of the Schuylers 



PELHAM AND WESTCHESTER 



179 



who resided in Pelham was upset in his boat not far from City 
Island. When picked up by passing craft he was found calmly sit- 
ting on the bottom of the capsized boat, smoking his pipe which he 
somehow managed to keep lit. 

One of the landmarks in Westchester is St. Peter's Church 
on Westchester Avenue. The present building is the fourth on 
this site, the first having been erected in 1700 when the trustees 
resolved "to build a church twenty-eight feet square, with a terret 
on top" for a bell tower. It stood on the old Town Green, close to 




St. Peter's Church, Westchester 



the former County Court House, about on the site of the present 
Sunday School building. It was used as a church until 1788, when 
it was in such bad condition after the Revolution that it was sold 
to Mrs. Sarah Ferris who removed it. 

St. Peter's was established in accordance with the Royal direc- 
tion received by the Governor of the Province of New York : 

"You shall take an especial care that God Almighty be devoutly and duly 
served thruout ye Government, the Book of Common Prayer, as it is now es- 
tablished read each Sunday and Holy day and the blessed Sacrament adminis- 
tered according to the rites of the Church of England." 



180 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

On the 12th day of September, 1693, "An Act for settling a 
Ministry and raising a maintenance for them" was introduced in the 
General Assembly, the preamble of which read, "Whereas Profane- 
ness and Licentiousness hath of late overspread this Province for 
want of a settled Ministry thruout the same, To the end the 
same may be removed and the Ordinances of God daily admin- 
istered." Despite the heavy charge expressed in the preamble, the 
legislators were indifferent. The act, however, was passed on the 
21st September thru the efforts of Governor Benjamin Fletcher, 
who was characterized by the Indians Cajenqidrogoe (the Lord 
of the Great Swift Arrow) ; Mr. Jones Graham, the Speaker of 
the House; and Colonel Caleb Heathcote who was later the first 
Warden of the Parish (1695) and in 1711 Mayor of the City of 
New York. 

The Act in its provisions comprehended the City of New York 
and the three counties of Richmond, Westchester and Queens. In 
the County of Westchester were formed two precincts the first 
including the towns of Westchester, Eastchester, Yonkers, and 
the Manor of Pelham ; the second embraced the towns of Rye, 
Mamaroneck and Bedford. 

In 1694, at a town meeting at Eastchester, it was resolved that 
"Lift John Drake and Henry Fowler Senr." be chosen to act "in 
their behalf ... in the business according to the warrant of 
procuring a minister." On the 2d day of May of the following year 
Mr. Warren Mather, a dissenting preacher was settled among 
them. Col. Heathcote, the first Church Warden protested that 
they had no right "to pay for the maintenance of any minister not 
of the National Church." In 1700 a bill was passed making East- 
chester a separate parish and Mr. Joseph Morgan, another dis- 
senter, was settled. 

On the Festival of St. Michael and All Saints, 1702, the Rev. 
John Bartow, the Propagation Society's missionary arrived in 
New York. He was sent to take charge of the Upper Parish of 
the County (Rye, Mamaroneck and Bedford) but he stopped at 
Westchester with Col. Graham, who had framed the Act of 1693. 
He was invited by the people to give a sermon on the next Sabbath 
Day, October 3d. After the service Col. Heathcote, Col. Graham 
and other chief inhabitants begged Mr. Bartow to stay among them, 
to which Mr. Bartow assented provided the change should receive 



I 



PELHAM AND WESTCHESTER 181 

the Governor's approval. This was obtained, and on December 
6th, a memorable day for Westchester, he was inducted. 

About this time William and Mary vetoed the Act of Separa- 
tion. Eastchester chafed under his judgment. "Some," said Mr. 
Bartow afterwards, "had given out threatening words should I dare 
to come." But one summer Sunday morning in 1703, Mr. Bartow 
made his appearance in the little shingle-sided meeting house at 
Eastchester. In the afternoon he performed the Church of Eng- 
land service, Mr. Morgan himself being present and neither he nor 
the people seemed dissatisfied. "On coming among them," says 
Mr. Hawkins, the Secretary of the Propagation Society, "they were 
so well satisfied with the liturgy and doctrine of the Church of 
England, that they forsook their minister and conformed to the 
Church of England." 

To Mr. Bartow's twenty-three years of faithful service both 
St. Peter's of Westchester and St. Paul's of Eastchester owe their 
solid foundation. 

The inscription on a tablet, the gift of Morey Hale Bartow, 
in St. Peter's Church reads : 

"He was a faithful one in Christ. Reverend John Bartow, first Rector 
of this Parish . . . was sent to America as a missionary and settled over 
the Parish from November 19, 1702, until his death, at this place, February 
9, 1726." 

In 1762 the members of the congregation secured from George 
III. a charter styled, "The Royal Charter of St. Peter's Church in 
the Borough Town of West Chester." 

In 1790 a much larger and more imposing edifice was erected 
which sixty-four years afterward was burned to the ground. A 
third structure met with a similar fate. The present St. Peter's 
is a modern stone building, imposing, and beautiful. The chime 
of bells is said to have been presented in the time of Queen Anne. 

The oldest head-stone in St. Peter's churchyard dates back to 
1702. Some of the prominent families interred there are — Costers, 
Honey wells, who came to Westchester in 1693 and whose descend- 
ants are still here. Waterburys, Valentines, Morrises, McNeils, 
Setons, Simpsons, Wilkins, Hoffmans, Bayards, Desbrosses, Hunts, 
Boltons, Delanceys, Powells, Lrorillards and Bartows. 

Near St. Peter's burying-ground is the Ferris graveyard, also 
known as the Pasture Hill Burying Ground where are the family 



182 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

vaults of Benjamin Ferris, also numerous headstones to the Pell 
family. 

Beyond the Sunday School building, a short distance south 
of the church, stood the ancient Orthodox Quaker Meeting House, 
built in 1723. In 1826 it was changed to Hicksites, after an 
American Quaker named Hicks. Two years later, the Orthodox 
built the Friends Meeting House on the opposite side of the Street. 
Both were destroyed by fire on the same night in the spring of 
1893. Just beyond flows the Indian Brook, now called Seabury 
Creek, on whose banks the celebrated George Fox is said to have ad- 
dressed, in 1672, the first Quaker meeting ever held in America. To 
.the west is the St. Peter's Rectory opposite Glebe Avenue, standing 
on land forming part of the "Ancient Glebe" given by the town to 
the church in 1703, and otherwise known as "Parsonage Land." 

On the opposite side of Westchester Road St. Boniface Inn bore 
the curious inscription : 

No Really Destitute Person need Pass This House Hungry. 

Another landmark of Westchester is the shingle-sided old 
fashioned house, west of the Westchester Creek Causeway, which 
was used as a country store where almost anything under the sun 
could be purchased. Tradition has it that a young man once jocosely 
asked the storekeeper — Sidney B. Bowne, who was a Quaker, — 
whether he had a pulpit in stock. The clever shopkeeper winked 
to his son and said : "If thee will go up in the garret, thee will find 
Parson Wilkins's old pulpit behind the chimney." 




CHAPTER XXII 

THE OLD TIMERS' ASSOCIATION 

Men Who Have been Residents of The Bronx for Fifty Years or More — 
An Interesting Chapter By its Historian, Sidwell S. Randall. 

'S a vast new population came surging into The Bronx, 
old residents who had lived for half a century or 
more in the comparatively new district north of the 
Harlem River, became slowly and by degrees aware 
of the fact that they were involuntarily becoming 
strangers in a land where they had resided from boyhood 
upward. Indeed, many of these old settlers became startlingly 
aware of the further fact that they, who but a few years previously 
were the owners of much of the lands in the old towns of Morris- 
ania, West Farms, Melrose, East and Westchester were no longer 
important factors in the territory of which once they might have 
been said to be "Lords of the Manor." In few words, death and 
change and time had apparently deprived them of their identity 
.and status. Naturally this altered condition of affairs reluctantly 
forced the knowledge upon them that, unless they combined and 
formed an association which would bring together in a close fel- 
lowship the older members of the community in which they were 
once so powerful and well known, they would be lost in the busy 
stirring City that had so suddenly sprung up all around and about 
them. 

Acting upon this conviction a number of old citizens met to- 
gether one evening two years ago, at the headquarters of the 
Exempt Firemen at Third Avenue and 147th Street and their de- 
liberations resulted in the formation of a society known as the 
"Old Timers of The Bronx," whose end and aim would be cordial 
amity, friendship and the promotion of the best interests of all its 
members socially and mentally. The sole qualifications of admis- 
sion to membership in this organization is a nominal fee and a 
residence in the Borough of over fifty years. By a unanimous vote 
Hon. Louis F. Haffen was selected as its first President, for he is 

183 



184 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



one who has identified himself from early manhood with every 
local improvement that has made our Borough more wonderfully 
prosperous and beautiful than any other section of Greater New 
York, not only by individual efforts on his part but also by serving 
with conspicuous ability his native place for four consecutive terms 
as its Borough President. The other officers elected at this time 
were: Julius Heiderman, 1st Vice-President; Theodore Weberg, 




Group of "Old Timers" ' | 

2d Vice-President; George W. Pouder, Treasurer; Daniel A. Mc- 
Cormick, George H. Robert Danfield, Secretaries; and Sidwell S. 
Randall, Historian. 

As matters now stand, success has followed every step of its 
progress ; its meetings are largely attended, and its treasury shows 
so satisfactory a financial balance that soon it will have a local 
habitation and a name of its own that will be a credit not only to 
The Bronx but also to the City at large. 

It should be added that every class of religion and politics is 
represented in this club. Some of the older generations of the Old 



1 

I 



THE OLD TIMERS' ASSOCIATION 185 

Timers remember the period when a few hundrds of sturdy 
pioneers formed the nucleus of the future towns of Melrose, Mor- 
risania, and West Farms, which are now populous sections of the 
Greater City. 

Among the important objects sought to be carried out by the 
Old Timers is the preservation of the ancient landmarks of the 
•Borough for, unless this be speedily done, every vestige of many 
of its interesting historical mementoes will be ruthlessly destroyed 
or obliterated by a new generation who apparently neither know nor 
care about the history of the past. Already a number of new dwell- 
ers of The Bronx, actuated solely Vjy commercial instincts and per- 
sonal aggrandizement, have built their homes on spots made sacred 
by the deeds of our ancestors. In cases like the.se it is the impera- 
tive duty of all of us, before it be too late, to mark by tablets places 
of such inestimable value not only to the antiquarian but to every 
true lover of his country. 

In addition to such ends and aims, old monuments, books, 
papers and documents have been collected by the Society, and will 
in the future be pre.sented to appropriate Municipal authorities. 
Surely such footprints in the sands of time must be carefully 
guarded lest they be stamped out by the heedless and careless 
strangers who rush in where angels fear to tread. 

Again, we must not forget the old families, whose habitations, 
tho widely scattered, might well be considered mile-stones in the 
original settlements north of the Harlem River. These families 
have representatives in the Old Timers whose members served 
under Grant, Sherman and Sheridan in the war of the rebellion 
and at the meetings of our novel Society, these old soldiers, compare 
their experiences on many hotly contested fields in the far south 
and, with one accord, propose to preserve and protect the burial 
places of the martyrs of the war, many of which the City authori- 
ties have altogether neglected and forgotten. Nor do the Old 
Timers purpose to allow the present generation to overlook the 
invaluable services rendered but a few years ago by the Volunteer 
Fire Department of the Annexed Wards when there were no 
bounds to the district this department considered within its limits. 
Not a few of us recall incidents of those days when in search ol 
fires and in the performance of their duties The Bronx firemen took 
their machines as far south as Fourteenth Street. Naturally a 
great number of the Old Timers are exempt firemen in the broadest 




186 THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 

sense of the word and they are proud of a well-earned record for 
promptness and efficiency in cases of emergencies in summer, win- 
ter, night and day. 

Tho time and space will not permit the writer to name all Old 
Timers whose fellow citizens have honored with official prefer- 
ments, he would not willingly omit to mention its Vice-President, 
Ex- Justice Julius Heiderman, nor that able jurist, Hon. John J.. 
Brady of the Supreme Court. Again my narrative would be in- 
complete did I not allude to the Berrians and the Briggs families 
whose ancient pedigree and homesteads go back to dates whereof 
the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. Josiah A. Briggs 
recently Chief Engineer of the Borough of The Bronx, is always 
to be seen in his familiar seat in the front section of Washington 
Hall, the present Headquarters of the Old Timers, an interested 
partaker in the deliberations of the Association. Also, on the 
platform, gracing his position as one of the officials of the Old 
Timers, Theodore Weberg, a natural born orator, commands more 
than ordinary attention. His thrilling description of his campaign 
under Grant during the last years of the Civil War vividly brings 
back to the memory of all his hearers a critical period in the 
history of the world. More than this, he has done much to im- 
mortalize the heroic bravery of many of-his fellow townsmen, whose 
unknown graves lie somewhere on the banks of the Potomac and 
Appomattox Rivers. 

One great benefit will accrue from the incorporation of this 
unique organization and it will result in the reunion of old com- 
panions who, while living in the vicinity of one another, were, 
singularly enough, not aware of the fact, for in all large cities fre- 
quently intimate acquaintances ignorantly and unconsciously as 
it were, reside in immediate proximity until some accidental meet- 
ing reveals the truth that they were residents of the same street or 
neighborhood. Very recently the writer himself met his former 
friend James Lyon of Tremont, a well-known citizen of The Bronx. 
Circumstances had separated us for over a score of years, and yet, 
our homes were but a short distance apart. 

Be this as it may, the Old Timers, at their monthly meetings, 
discuss in an amicable spirit the strange vicissitudes and changes 
that time and fortune have wrought in the various destinies of their 
lives. A few who were running around bare-footed and coatless 
for lack of better clothing when The Bronx was comparatively a 



THE OLD TIMERS' ASSOCIATION 187 

wilderness, are now wealthy, while their associates who were then 
driving their horses and carriages thru its thorofares are now con- 
ductors on our City Railroad. And, by the way, in those early 
days the trolley system was an unknown factor, and only stages 
took passengers to and from Manhattan Island, the heavy iron 
bridge which afterwards spanned the Harlem River not then be- 
ing in existence. It was alleged when this structure was built 
that it contained enough metal to support two of its nature and 
kind and that the same was paid for by the pound and not for its 
entirety. 

Previous to the date of its construction, a venerable wooden 
bridge, too often useless and out of repair, supplied the necessities 
of the then out-of-town settlers. 

Briefly the Old Timers may be characterized as infinitesmal 
atoms in the ocean of humanity around and about them. "The 
old order yieldeth to the new," for now, alas, the members of this 
odd fraternity can wander for hours about their native place, where 
once everybody knew them, without receiving a single friendly nod 
or greeting of recognition from anyone. 

Before concluding my epitome of the novel organization of 
which I write, let me say I would very much like, had I space and 
opportunity, individually to specify all its members. Our genial 
and overworked secretaries, Messrs. McCormick, Dyer and 
Danfield, however, deserve and shall receive especial commenda- 
tion for the cordial interest they have shown in its present and 
future welfare. And the same may be deservedly said of its other 
officials, George W. Pouder, William Huck and Josiah A. Briggs. 
What is very gratifying to the Old Timers is the kind interest the 
public has taken in its end and aim as well as the objects it seeks 
to accomplish. The sympathy that their fellow citizens extend is 
not only very pleasing but will stimulate our organization intelli- 
gently and fittingly to carry the purposes for which it was organ- 
ized. Possibly it may prove a laudable example for the old resi- 
dents of the other boroughs of Greater New York to follow, and if 
so, its life will not be in vain. In any event the writer hopes its 
memory will not terminate with the lives of its present members. 



INDEX 



Adams, Abig'ail (Mrs. W. S. 

Smith) 138 

Adams, George Washington . . . 138 
Adams, President John 137, 138, 139 
Adams, Mrs. John Quincy .... 139 
Adams, President John Quincy 139 

Albany, 5, 10, 64, 168 

Albany Post Road ...5.5, 64, 146, 16C 

Algonquin Indians 148 

Allan, John 152, 153 

American Army, 19, 20, 55, 61, 86. 

88, 108, 109, 112, 113, 126, 127, 128. 

146, 147, 149, 162, 163, 170 
American Bank Note Company . 41 

Amsterdam 10 

"Ancient Glebe" 182 

Anderson, Rev. R 11 

Andre, Major 149 

Andriessen, Pieter 9 

Andros, Governor Edmund 13 

Annes Hoeck (Ann's Neck) 122, 123, 

175, 177 

Annhooke 136, 173 

Aquahung 9 

Arnold, General Benedict, 164, 165 

170, 171 

Asia, British Frigate 93 

Ayres, Captain 149 

Baldwin, Colonel 128, 129 

Bailey mansion 161 

Barclay mansion 54 

Barretto, Francis J 110 

Barretto homestead 91 

Barretto's Point ...89, 90, 91, 110 

Bartow, Basil 73 

Bartow, Rev. John 73, 180, 18] 

Bartow, Morley Hale 181 

Bartow mansion 173, 175 

Bathgate, Alexander 68 

Bathgate farm 68 

Baxter, Capt. Charles 144 

Beck, Charles Bathgate 143 

Be-k Memorial Presbyterian 

Church 143 

Bedford 180 

Bedford Park 40, 41, 109 

Beekman mansion 115 

Belmont 21, 141 

Bensonia 21 

Bensonia cemetery 81, 82 

Berrian's Neck 4 

Betts, Fletcher 87 



Bitter, Karl 5 

"Black Rock" 2 

Black- Siraiu/K the 68 

Blauzes, the 135 

Block, Adrien 8, 9, 121 

Blythe 110 

Board of Trade, North Side, 24, 70 

Board of Education 73 

Boars' Den 66 

Bolton, Reginald P 62, 72, 161 

Bonaparte, Joseph 178 

Borough Hall 68 

Boston mansion 178 

Boston Post Road, 20, 55, 72, 140, 146, 

159 
Boston Road, 37, 43, 55, 64, 75, 107 
143, 146, 160, 176 

Botanical Gardens 65 

Boulevard Lafayette 5, 57 

Bound Brook 90 

Bowne house 182 

Bowne, Sidney B 182 

Brady, Hon. John J 186 

Brennan house 150 

Bridges 29, 30, 45 

Broadway 45, 53, 54 

Bronx-Astoria 54, 55 

Central (Macomb's Dam), 50, 51 
52, 53, 54 

City Island 133 

Farmer's (Free, Dyckman's, or 

Hadley's) 47, 48, 53, 161 

Fourth Avenue 53 

Harlem (Third Avenue), 48, 49, 53 

High 52 

Hudson Memorial 5, 55 

King's, 20, 45, 46, 47, 50, 52, 53, 54, 
55, 62 

T.ennx Avpniii' 54 

Madison Avenue 53 

New York-New Jersey 43 

Pelham 59, 130 

Putnam railroad S-* 

Ship Canal 54 

Spuyten Duyvil Creek 45 

University Heights 54 

Washington 53, 54 

Williams's 20 

Willis Avenue 53 

Briggs, Josiah A 186, 187 

Brig kt side 142, 143 

British Army, 19, 20, 65, 86, 88, 106, 
107, 108, 109, 112, 113, 127, 128, 
129, 146, 147, 161, 162 



189 



190 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Broadway 34, 35 

Broadway-Lexington Avenue sub- 
way 29, 31, 34, 35 

Bronck, Antonia Slagboom ...10, 119 

Bronck, Frank C 10 

Bronck, Jonas, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 83, 119 
122 

Bronck, Pieter Jonassen 10 

Broncksland 12, 13, 119 

Bronk, William R 10 

Bronx Beautiful Society 70 

Bronx, Borough of The, 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 
21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 
32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 
44, 45, 54, 55, 56, 79, 81, 89, 95, 99, 
102, 106, 122, 178, 183, 184, 185, 
186, 187 
Bronx Chapter, D. A. R. ... 65, 130 

Bronx County 25, 27, 33 

Bronx Eye and Ear Infirmary . . 79 

Bronx Hospital 79 

Bronx Kills 19, 43, 54 

Bronx Park, 2, 33, 43, 56, 66, 67, 68 
Bronx River, 9, 20, 23, 28, 39, 40, 44, 
59, 67, 81, 89, 119, 129, 148, 156, 
157, 173 
Bronx Society of Arts and 

Sciences 67, 69 

Brown, Chancellor Elmer Ells- 
worth 71, 74 

Brownson Literary Society 100 

Bryant, Lieutenant 127 

Bungay Creek 89 

Burgoyne, Lieut.-Gen. John, 158, 170 
Burr, Colonel Aaron, 108, 136, 149, 
156 

Bussing's Point 49 

Byrnes, Police Inspector 82 

Cajenquirogoe 18C 

Caldwell, Supervisor 145 

Calver, W. L 161 

Camniann, Oswald, estate 161 

Canal, Erie 16, 45 

Harlem Ship 42, 45 

Mott Haven 21 

Carvel, Governor Ill 

Casanova 33 

Casanova mansion . . .■ 83 

Casanova,Yglesias 84, 85 

Castle Hill Neck 121, 122 

Cemeteries, 75, 80, 81, 82, 91, 136, 144 
Central Union Gas Company ... 42 

Chandler, Rev. Dr 121 

Charles 1 173 

Charles II 12, 174 

Charter of Liberties 93 

Chastellux, Marquis de 162 

Chateauneuf, Marquis de 147 



Chatterton Heights 147 

Cherry Point 12e 

Chimney Sweeps, The 135 

Christian Brothers 120 

Church of the Holy Nativity . . . 147 

Churches 76, 136, 143, 147 

City History Club 64 

City Island, 47 ,77, 129, 130, 133, 134, 

135, 175, 178, 179 

City Island Road 58, 129, 178 

Civil War, The, 70, 82, 144, 145, 186 

Claremont 21, 70 

Claremont Park 56, 57, 68, 69 

Clark, Daniel 72 

Clason, Isaac 120 

Clason's Point 37, 119, 120 

Clason's Point Inn 120 

Clason's Point Military Academy, 75, 

120 

Clemm, Mrs 152, 153 

Clemm, Virginia, (Mrs. Edgar 

Allan Poe) 69, 151, 153 

Clinton, Gen. and Gov. George, 17, 

47, 139, 147, 169 

Clinton, General James 147 

Clinton, Martha (Mrs. Havens) . 147 

Cock Hill Fort 160 

Cole, John 125 

Colen, Donck 157 

Coles, John B 48 

College of the City of New York 99 

Collins mansion 175, 17P 

Collins, Thomas 122 

Colonial Dames, Society of 62 

Columbia University 15, 99 

Commissioners of Forfeiture ... 48 
Committee of Public Safety, 15, 93, 

169 
Congress, Continental, 15, 16, 20, 128, 

158, 163, 164, 170 

Congress, Federal 138, 171 

Constitution, Federal 16 

Constitution, State 16 

Convention, Constitutional 16 

Convention of Towns 90 

Cook, Walter 5 

Cooper, Rev. Myles 121 

Cornell, Sarah (Mrs. Thomas 

Willett) 119 

Cornell, Thomas 119 

Cornell's Neck 119, 122 

"Cornfield Neck" 91 

Corsa, Andrew 109 

Cortlandt Manor 167, 168, 170 

Cortlandt manor-house, 168, 169, 17C 

Cosby, Gov. William 13, 14 

Cousten, Josiah 122 

Cox's Tavern 53 

"Cradle of Cuban Liberty," The. . 83 



INDEX 



191 



Crawford house 139 

Crippled Children, class for 73 

Crippled Children's Association . 173 

Crombie, Thomas J 56 

Cromwell, Elizabeth 122 

Cromwell house 69, 122 

Cromwell, James 122 

Cromwell, John 122 

Cromwell, Lord Protector Oliver, 12 

122 

Croton Bay 168 

Croton River 52, 156, 168 

Crotona Park 56, 57, 68, 69 

Crotona Parkway 68 

Crystal Palace 66 

Cunningham, Capt. William, 115, 116 

117 

Cunningham, Mrs 144 

Curtis, Captain 129 

Danfield, George H. Robert .184, 187 

Daughters of Jacob 18 

De Brant von Trogen 9 

Decatur, Commodore Stephen . . . 135 
Declaration of Independence, 14, 15 

169 

De Lancey, Col. James, 14, 106, 108 

141, 162 

De Lancey's Block House 108 

De Lancey's Corps 108, 161, 162 

De Lancey's Pine 108 

De Long, Lieut.-Col 81 

De Voe Park 57 

De Voe's Point 49 

"Devil's Stepping Stones" 131 

De Vries, Pietrus Rudolphus . . 156 

Dongan, Governor 168 

Drake, John 180 

Drake, Joseph Rodman, 95, 96, 97, 98, 

100 

Drake, Samuel 135 

Duke of York (James II.), 13, 174, 

175, 176 

Uniiderber<i, The 75 

Dutch, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 94, 123, 124, 

156, 157, 173, 174 

Dutch burial-ground 75 

Dutch East India Company, 4, 9, 175 

Dutch farmhouse 108 

Dutch garden 63 

Duyts, Laurens 9 

Dyckman, Abraham 10!- 

Dyckman, Jacob 47 

Dyckman, Michael 108 

Eastchester, 20, 72, 96, 135, 138, 139, 
180, 181, 183 

Eastchester Bay 128, 177 

Eastchester Creek 139, 140 



East Morrisania 21 

East River, 45, 53, 89, 96, 106, 113 
119 

Echo Park 57, 69 

Eckford, Henry 96 

Eden mansion 78 

Edsall, Samuel 12 

Edsall, Thomas Henry 165 

Eltop, Robert H 81 

Eltona 21 

Einiiiaus 9 

Eustis, James 135 

Exempt Firemen 183, 185 

Faile, Charles V Ill 

Faile, E. G Ill 

Fairmount 141 

Farragut, Admiral David G. . . . 81 

Federal Building 43 

Ferris, Benjamin 182 

Ferris graveyard 181 

Ferris, John 122 

Ferris mansion 122 

Ferris, Mrs. Sarah 179 

Fish, R. Bronck IC 

Fitzgerald, Edward 72 

Fitzgerald, Louis 56 

Fletcher, Governor Benjamin, 13, 18f 
Kordham, 55, 75, 89, 141, 150, 153, 154 

Fordham Church 69, 154, 159 

Fordham Company of Minute Men, 93 

Foidham Heights 73, 161 

Fordham Hospital 76, 78, 79 

Fordham University 75, 109 

Forster 14 

Fort Cock Hill 160 

Fort George 161 

Fort Independence, 63, 146, 160, 161, 
162, 166 

Fort Number One 160 

Fort Number Two 160 

Fort Number Three 160 

Fort Number Four 160 

Fort Number Five 161 

Fort Number Six 161 

Fort Number Seven 161 

Fort Number Eight 75, 161, 162 

Fort Prince Charles 160 

Fort Schuyler 126 

Fort Swartout 16C 

Fort Totten 126 

Fort Tryon 161 

Fort Washington 126, 160, 161 

Fort Wa.shington Point 6 

Fowler, Henry 180 

Fox Corners 141 

Fox farm house 141 

Fox, George 182 

Fox, George, mansion 110 



192 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Fox Hills 91 

Foxhurst 141 

Fox, William W 14? 

Franz Sigel Park 57, 69 

Fraunce's Tavern 8 

Friends Meeting House 182 

Ganley, J. V 33 

Gates, General 17C 

Gaynor, Mayor William J 24 

George III 181 

George' Point 169 

Gibbs, L. G 33 

Giles, William Ogden 160, 165 

Glenn, Henry 15S 

Glover, Charles 72 

Glover, Colonel John, 3, 58, 128, 129 

130 

"Glover's Rock" 3, 58, 130 

"God's Acre" 98, 102 

Godwin, J. H 53 

Goose Island 135 

Gott, Mr 73 

Gouverneur, Sarah (Mrs. Lewis 

Morris) 14 

Graham, Isabella 14 

Graham, Jones 180 

"Grange," The Hunt 92, 95, 96 

Grant's Tomb 99 

"Gray Mare" 178 

Great Eastern, The 86 

Great Kill 9 

Great Minniford's Island 133 

Great Neck 114 

"Grosjean" 139 

Grove Farm Patent, The 90, 122 

Grovehill 21 

Guion Inn 139 

Gun Hill Road 33 

Hadley, George 48 

Hadley house 64 

Hadley, Joseph 92 

Haffen, Hon. Louis F., 24, 25, 26, 183 

Haight, Nicholas 133 

Hale, Captain Nathan, 112, 114, 115, 

116, 117 

Halifax, British Flagship 115 

Half Moon, The 4,5,6,8 

Hall, Edward Hagaman 161 

"Hall of Fame" 75, 155 

Halleck, Fitz-Greene 97 

Halsey mansion 138, 139 

Hamilton, Alexander 17, 136 

Hand, Colonel Edward 127 

Hand's Riflemen 127 

Hardenbroeck, Margaret (Mrs. 

Frederick Philipse) 156 

Harlem 49, 127 



Harlem Heights 112, 114 

Harlem Heights, Battle of 126 

Harlem River, 9, 20, 21, 29, 30, 31, 

33, 35, 37, 43, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 

56, 75, 77, 1.33, 156, 161, 162, 183, 

184, 187 
Harrison, President William H. 132 

Hart Island 134, 175 

Haskin, John B 145 

Haven House 147 

Hawkins, Mr 181 

Haughten, Charles W 21 

Hazen, Lieut.-Col., Moses 170 

Heath, General William, 19, 20, 106, 

127, 146, 162 

Heathcote, Col. Caleb 180 

Heidermen, Julius 184, 186 

Hell Gate 17, 112 

Hemlock Grove 66 

Henderson's Island 178 

Henly, Major 20 

Hessians 62, 128, 161, 162, 177 

Hicksites : 182 

Higgins, Hon. Thomas J. . . .25, 71, 98 

Higli Bridge 52 

Highbridge 34, 35, 41, 50, 161 

Highbridgeville 21 

High Island 134, 175 

High School, Gouverneur Morris, 70 

76 

Hoe, Peter 143 

Hoe Octuple Press 143 

Hoe, Col. Richard March ...142, 143 

Hoe, Robert 142 

Hoe Rotary Press 142 

Hoit, Moses 135 

Holler's Pond 14C 

Holmes, James 159 

Home for the Friendless 8C 

Home Guards 106 

Home for Incurables 78, 79 

Hospitals 76, 7P 

Horton, George W 133 

Horton Farm 135 

Horton Homestead 135 

Howe, Admiral Lord, 59, 67, 120, 128 
Howe, General Sir William, 3, 58, 106, 

114, 115, 126, 127, 129, 148, 158, 

159, 176, 179 

Howe Chestnut 59, 177 

"Huckleberry Road" 121 

Hudson, Henry 3, 4, 5, 6 

Hudson Memorial Bridge 5, 55 

Hudson Monument 6 

Hudson River, 5, 31, 54, 55, 57, 75, 

77, 97, 127, 156, 157, 160, 168 

Huguenots 2, 139, 175 

Hunnewell, Captain 108 



INDEX 



193 



Hunt Burying-ground 90, 98, 101 

Hunt Inn 141 

Hunt, Josiah 12^ 

Hunt, Montgomery 92 

Hunt, Judge Ward 9r 

Hunt, Thomas (First), 90, 91, 92, 9^ 

122, 123 
Hunt, Thomas (Second), 90, 91, 92, 
94, 141 

Hunt, Thomas (Fourth) 93 

Hunt's Point, 33, 39, 41, 89, 90, 92, 

96, 97, 102, 122, 143 
Hunt's Point Road, 89, 90, 91, 112, 
143 

Hunter, Elias des Brosses 178 

Hunter, Elizabeth (Mrs. De Lan- 

cey) 178 

Hunter Island 175, 178 

Hunter, John 134, 178 

Hunter's Island Inn 178 

Huntington Estate 131 

HHs^fii; British Frigate, 8(5, 87, 101 

Hustace, Joshua 133 

Hustace House 14"? 

Hutchins, Waldo 56 

Hutchinson, Anne, 58, 122, 123, 124, 
125, 136, 173 

Hutchinson, Frances 124, 12r 

Hutchinson River, 43, 59, 123, 128, 
129, 135 

Hyatt Farm 148 

Hyatt's Tavern 159 

Indian Brook 182 

Indian Cave 106 

Indian Field 65 

Indian Lake 67 

Indians, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 15, 59, 60, 61 
64, 69, 89, 95, 106, 119, 120, 123 
124, 125, 135, 136, 148, 156, 168, 
169, 170, 173, 174, 178, 180 
Interborough Rapid Transit Com- 
pany 34, 35 

Inwood 161 

Irving, Washington 7, 97 

Iselin, Columbus 178 

Iselin Mansion 178 

"Jack's Rock" 3 

Jackson, Colonel 2C 

James II. (Duke of York), 13, 174, 

175, 176 
Jay, Frances (Mrs. Frederick 

Van Cortlandt) 61 

Jay, Chief Justice John 61, 149 

Jenkins, Stephen 135, 158 

Jessup, Edward 89, 90, 110, 141 

Jessup, Elizabeth (Mrs. Thomas 

Hunt, Jr.) 90, 92 

Jessup, Maj.-Gen. Thomas Sidney, 9C 



Joseph Rodman Drake Park, 57, 102 

Jumel, Madame 156 

Jumel Mansion 114, 156 

Ketcham, John 92 

Kieft, Governor Wilhelm, 60, 123, 167 

"King's Arms" 103, 104 

"King's Battery," The 161 

Kingsbridge, 34, 47, 128, 146, 158, 159, 

160, 162, 163, 165, 169 
King's Bridge, {See Bridges) 

King's Bridge Road 55, 108, 161 

King's College 15, 121, 156, 17C 

"Kissing Bridge" 100 

Knowlton, Lieut.-Col 114 

Knyphausen, General von, 148, 160, 

177 
Kuyter, Jochem Pietersen ....9, 11 

Laaphawac liking 178 

Lafayette Avenue 89, 100 

Lafayette Boulevard 57 

Lafayette Lane 100 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 17, 100, 152, 

171 

Lancaster, Walter 135 

Landing Road 90, 91 

Lasher, Colonel 160 

Laurel Hill 161 

Lawrence House 66 

Lebanon Hospital 77 

Lee, Maj.-Gen. Charles, 128, 129, 13C 

Leggett Dock 110 

Leggett, Gabriel (Finst), 89, 90, 92, 

110, 141 

Leggett, Gabriel (Second) ..90, 106 

Leggett, Helmingino 110 

I.eggett's Lane 88 

Leggett, Thomas 106, 107, IIC 

Legislature, Colonial 55 

Legislature, State, 14, 32, 48, 49, 56, 

165, 171 

Leisler, Governor Jacob 168, 175 

Leisler's Rebellion 167 

Lewis, Rev. Isaac 143 

"Lexington of Westchester," The 127 

Libraries 8C 

Lincoln, Gen. Benjamin 146, 162 

Lincoln Hospital 77 

"Little Mothers" Society 178 

"IJttle Neck" 91 

Livingston, Philip 132 

Livingstone, Janet (Mrs. Rich- 
ard Montgomery) 163 

Livingstone, Judge Robert R. . . . 163 

"Locusts," The 112 

Long Island, 43, 74, 90, 99, 100, 121, 

128, 135 

Long Island, Battle of 113 



194 



THE BOROUGH OP THE BRONX 



Lons Island Sound, 8, 37, 43, 45, 78, 
84, 86, 90, 99, 114, 126, 173, 177 

Long Neck 91 

Longwood Club House 87 

Lorillard Mansion 67, 79 

Louis Philippe d'Orleans 17 

Lydig Estate 2 

Lynch, Dominick 120 

Lyon, James 186 

Macedonia, English Frigate .... 135 

Macedonian Hotel 135 

Macomb, Alexander 49, 53 

Macomb Mansion 53 

Macomb, Robert 49, 50 

Macomb's Dam Bridge ....51, 52, 54 

Macomb's Dam Park 43, 57, 69, 80 

Mamaroneck 34, 143, 180 

Maminepoe 173 

Manhattan, Borough of . . .57, 84, 134 

Manhattan Indians 1 

Manhattan Island, 4, 7, 8, 20, 30, 35, 
45, 47, 55, 60, 113, 123, 126, 133, 
145, 160, 187 

Manufacturing 32, 41, 42 

Marble Hill 159, 160 

Mark Twain House 65 

Marsh, Luther R 56 

Marshall, Justice 14£ 

Marshall's Corners 134 

Martin, Francis 33 

Mather, Warren 180 

Mathewson, Douglas 33 

McCormick, Daniel A 184, 187 

McGraw, Nicholas 21 

McLean, George W 56 

Meachem, Robert 90 

Melrose 21, 145, 183, 185 

MercKvy, The 87 

Mill Brook 14, 15, 18 

Miller, Hon. Cyrus C. . .24, 43, 44, 70 

Minnewit's Island 133 

Minuit, Gov. Peter 133 

"Mishow Rock" 178 

Mohawk Indians 123 

Mohegan Indians 1 

Monroe, President James 9."' 

Montgomery House 166 

Montgomery, Gen. Richard, 160, 163, 

164, 165 
Montgomery, Sarah (Lady Rane- 

lagh) 165 

Montressor's Island, (See Ran- 
dall's Island) 

Morgan, Governor E. D 126 

Morgan, Joseph 180, 181 

Morgan, Joseph, House 135 

Morris, Anna 68 

Morris Dock 51 

Morris Family 19, 68, 7." 



Morris, Gouverneur (First), 15, 16, 

17, 18, 19, 20, 68 
Morris, Gouverneur (Second), 17, 68 
Morris, Gouverneur, Mansion, 17, 19, 

109 
Morris, Mrs. Gouverneur (Anne 

Gary Randolph) 17, IF 

Morris, Colonel Lewis ( First), 12, If 
Morris, Judge Lewis (Second, 

called Senior) 12, 13, 14, 73 

Morris, Lewis (Third, called Jun- 
ior) 14, 15 

Morris, Gen. Lewis (Fourth, the 

Signer) 14, 15, 121 

Morris, Lewis G 50, 51 

Morris, Mary 13 

Morris Park 33 

Morris, Capt. Richard 12 

Morris, Hon. Richard 14 

Morris, Col. Roger 155, 156 

Morris, Roger, House 114, 15P 

Morris, Gen. Staats Long 14, 15 

Morris, William H., Mansion ... 18 
Morrisania, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 49, 

82, 108, 141, 145, 162, 183, 185 

Morrisania, Old 9, 13, 15, 21, 128 

Morrisania Manor 13, 14 

Morrisania Mansion 65 

Mosholu 34, 61 

Mosholu Parkway 57, 65 

Mott Haven 20, 21, 98 (note) 

Mott Haven Canal 21 

Mott, Jordan L 20, 21 

Mount Eden 141 

Mount Hope, 141 

Mount Vernon 3? 

Mullay, John 56 

Municipal Art Commission E 

Muschenheim, William C, 5, 158, 16C 

Nappeckamok T 

National Cash Register Company 4f 

"Neutral Ground," The lOf 

New Amsterdam, 8, 12, 13, 119, 123, 

157, 167, 174 

New Jersey 12, 13, 15, 178 

New Netherland 174 

New Rochelle, 2, 20, 33, 42, 57, 98, 

143, 146, 175, 178 
New York Catholic Protectory . . 7£ 
New York City, 20, 23, 24, 27, 30, 32, 

35, 47, 49, 52, 55, 56, 57, 62, 73, 86, 

96, 99, 119, 134, 159, 163, 167, 169, 

170, 180 
New York Edison Company ... 41 
New York Province, 12, 13, 15, 175, 

179 

New York Public Library 8C 

New York State, 28, 33, 108, 158, 169, 

170 



INDEX 



id5 



New York Telephone Company.. 42 
New York University, 71, 73, 74, 161, 

162 
Nicolls, Gov. Richard, 89, 122, 1.36, 

174, 175 

Niles, William W 5C 

Niniham, Chief 65 

Nijn)ichsen 4 

Nonpareil, The 50, 51 

North Brother Island 78, 86 

North Carolina, Frigate 133 

North, Lord 67 

O'Brien, J. F 33 

Odell's Barns 135 

Ogden Mansion 178 

Old Point Comfort 139 

Old Timer.«' Association .183, 186, 187 

Old Trinity Church 2 

Onrnst. The 8 

Oostdorp 173, 174 

Orchard Beach 57 

Orthodox Quaker Meeting House, 182 

Palmer, Benjamin 47 

I'aparineino 6, 46 

Park Department 57, 69 

Parks 32, 40, 56, 70 

Parkways 33, 43, 59, 66, 68 

Parsball, James L 82 

Parsons, General 146 

■'Parsonage Land" 182 

Pasture Hill Burying Ground . . 181 

Paulding, Captain 149 

Paul Homestead 131 

Peabody Home 80, 108 

Peekskill 6 

Pelham Bay ' Park, ' 3,' '.33,' 35^ .57, 59, 

128, 178 
Pelham Bay Park, 3, 33, 35, 56, 57, 

59, 128, 176, 178 

Pelham Bridge 59, 130 

Pelham Manor, 34, 57, 128, 133, 145, 

173, 175, 176, 177, 180 

Pelham Neck 122, 123, 175, 177 

Pelham Parkway 33, 43, 57 

Pelham Road 130, 131 

Pelham, Township of, 175, 176, 177 

Pell, Benjamin 176 

Pell Family 182 

Pell Family Burial-ground .... 175 

Pell, Isec 176 

Pell, James K 176 

Pell, John 174, 176 

Pell, John, D.D 175, 176 

Pell, Joshua 176 

Pell Manor-House 175, 176 

Pell's Point 128, 148 

Pell'.s Point, Battle of 129, 162 



Pell, Thomas, 57, 133, 135, 173, 174, 

175, 176 

Pell Treaty Oak 173 

Penfield Homestead 148 

Perry, Commodore 147 

Philipse, Eva (Mrs. Jacobus 

Van Cortlandt) 168 

Philipse, Frederick, 45, 46, 47, 156, 

157, 168 
Philipse, Frederick (Third), 156, 157 

Philipse Manor-House 155, 156 

Philipse, Mary (Mrs. Roger Mor- 
ris) 155, 156 

Philipseburgh, Manor of, 155, 156, 

168, 169 

Pinckney, Philip 135 

"Planting Neck" 91, 94, 106 

Poe Cottage 69, 150, 153 

Poe, General David 152 

Poe. Edgar Allan, 69, 150, 151, 152, 

153, 154, 155 

Poe Park 57, 69 

Polak, Edward 33 

Pole, Sarah 12 

Population 23, 24, 29, 30 

Port Morris 21, 33, 45, 54, 85, 86 

Pot Rock 86 

Ponder, George W 184, 187 

Presbyterians 76, 143 

Prescott, Col. William 127 

Provincial Assembly, 46, 59, 168, 176 
Provincial Congress, 15, 158, 1.59, 163, 

169 
Public School Number Four .... 74 

"Pudding Rock" 2 

Pugsley's Creek 121 

Pulitzer, Joseph 81 

Putnam, Col. Rufus 160 

Quakers 13, 14, 182 

Quaker Ridge 33 

Quebec 14, 163, 164, 165, 171 

Queen Anne 137, 181 

Qiiinnahanc/ 91, 123 

Railroads 24, 30 

Baltimore and Ohio 54 

Elevated 35, 37 

New York Central, 34, 40, 42, 160 
New York, New Haven and Hart- 
ford, 9, 15, 17, 33, 42, 54, 83, 
134 
New York, Westchester and 
Boston, 33, 34, 37, 140 

Pennsylvania 54 

Ranachqua 9, 10 

Randall, Sidwell S 183, 184 

Randall's Island 19, 20, 54, 109 

Randolph, John 17 

Rasberry, Capt. William .T 145 



196 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Rat Island 135 

Rattlesnake Brook 140 

Read, Colonel 128, 129 

Real Estate, 21, 25, 26, 27, 29, 36, 39 

Reid Homestead 140 

Reid, John 140 

Reid's Mill 140 

Rensellaerswyck 10, 60 

Renwicks, The 50, 51 

Rhinelander, T. J. 63 

Rhinelander Sugar-House Prison, 63 

115 
Richardson, Elizabeth (Mrs. 

Gabriel Leggett) 89, 92, 110 

Richardson, John, 89, 90, 91, 110, 141 

Riverdale 34, 168 

Riverside Hospital 78 

Robinson, Colonel 155 

Rochambeau, Count de 62, 109 

"Rocking Stone" 2, 66 

Rodman, Samuel 178 

Rodman's Neck ...133, 134, 175, 178 
Roman Catholic Orphan Assy- 

lum 161 

Romayne. Dr. Nicholas 96 

Rose Hill Manor-House 109 

Rowe, Captain 63 

Rye 180 

Sackhoes 6 

Sackwrahung 89 

Sacred Heart Academy 120 

Scarsdale 33 

Scarsdale Manor 146 

Schools 32, 73 

Schuiz, G. M 33 

Schwab, Julius H 162 

Schwab Mansion 162 

Schuyler, General 163 

Schuyler, Gertrude (Mrs. Steph- 
anas Van Cortlandt) 168 

Scott, General 146 

Screven, John 120 

Screven's Point 120 

Seabury Creek 182 

Seabury, Nathaniel 73 

Seabury, Rev. Samuel 73, 121 

Seton Hospital 78 

Shahash 13 

Sheard, Moses G 145 

Sheldon, Mrs 154 

Shepard, Colonel 128, 129 

Shippen, Margaret (Mrs. Bene- 
dict Arnold) 171 

Shordckkappuck 6 

Shute, Thomas 140 

Sigel, Gen. Franz 69 

Simcoe, Lieut.-Col. John G. . . . 65 

Sint Sine Indians 1 

Siwanoy Indians, 1, 57, 121, 135, 173 



Smith, John 133 

Smith, Mathew 142 

Smith, Peter 142 

Smith, Col. W. S 137, 138 

Snakapins 119 

Snake Hill 109 

Society for the Propagation of 

the Gospel, 72, 73, 180, 181 
Society of St. Vincent de Paul . . 80 
Soldiers' Monument, West Farms, 141 

Somler House 65 

"Split Rock" 3, 123 

"Split Rock" Road 3, 58, 176 

Spuvten Duyvil, 4, 6, 7, 34, 78, 157, 

158, 160 
Spuyten Duyvil Creek, 4, 5, 6, 7, 43, 

46, 48, 50, 57, 61, 156, 160 

Spuyten Duyvil Hill 160 

Spuyten Duyvil Parkway 5, 57 

Spuyten Duyvil Road 160 

"Spy House" 143 

"Spy Oak" 131 

Staats, Elizabeth (Mrs. Lewis 

Morris) 14 

Stanton, Joseph 140 

Stewart, A. T 82 

Stockbridge Indians 65, 148 

Stoll, Jacob Jans 10, 119 

Story of the Bronx, The ...135, 1-58 

Stuyvesant, Gov. Peter 173, 174 

St. Ann's Avenue 17, 18 

St. Ann's Episcopal Church ...18, 69 

St. Boniface Inn 182 

St. James Park 57, 68 

St. John the Divine Cathedral . . 99 

St. Joseph's Hospital 77, 78 

St. Luke's Hospital 99 

St. Mary's Park 57, 69 

St. Paul's Church, Eastchester 136, 

137, 139, 181 
St. Paul's Church, Manhattan . . 165 
St. Peter's Church, Westchester, 121, 

179, 181, 182 

St. Raymond's Cemetery 82 

Subways 29, 31, 34, 36, 41 

Sxyini/side 143 

Swartout, Col. Abraham 160 

Synagogs 18, 76 

Tackamuck 9 

Taekmufk Indians 1 

Talman, Pierre C 145 

Tij iiiiiiviiaiif inid Other Poems .. 153 

Tankiteke Indians 1 

Taxpayers' Alliance ...24, 25, 26, 27 

"Ten Farms," The 135 

Tennant, William 143 

Tetard Farm 161 

Tetard's Hill 159, 160 

Theateis 36 



INDEX 



197 



"The Bronx" 95, 96 

"The Raven" 150, 155 

Throckmorton, John 119, 123, 124 

Thros-fj's Neck, 40, 120, 123, 126, 127, 
128, 131, 132 

Tippet's Brook 58, 61, 

Tippet's Hill 159, 160 

Tiffany, Charles L 56 

Ti;icr. The 8 

Tompkins, Nathaniel 135 

"Treaty Oak" 58 

Tremont 36, 141, 145 

Tryon, Governor 169 

"Twelve Farms," The 92 

Twin Islands 175, 178 

Underhill, Capt. John 122 

Union Hospital 78 

Unionport 120 

Union Railroad Company 22 

Ursuline Convent 77 

TJnited Provinces 3 

United States, 1, 29, 73, 75, 90, 145, 
165 

United States, U. S. Frigate 135 

University Park 57, 69 

Upper Cortlandt 146 

Valentine House 145, 146 

Valentine's Hill 129 

Van Alst, Pieter 10 

Van Corlaer, Anthony 7 

Van Corlear, Arendt 10, 60 

Van Cortlandt, Augustus ....61, 169 
Van Cortlandt Family, ..61, 167, 169 

Van Cortlandt, Frederick 62 

Van Cortlandt, Jacobus .64, 168, 169 

Van Cortlandt, James 159 

Van Cortlandt Lake ,60 

Van Cortlandt Mansion, ..61, 63, 64 
Van Cortlandt, Oloff Stevenson, 167 
Van Cortlandt Park, 33, 34, 40, 57, 59, 

60, 61, 65, 146, 167, 169 
Van Cortlandt, Philip ..169, 170, 171 
Van Cortlandt, Pierre . . 169, 170, 171 
Van Cortlandt, Pierre, Jr. ..171, 172 
Van Cortlandt, Stephanus, 167, 168, 

169 
Van der Donck, Adrien ..7, 60, 157 

Varian, Isaac, Homestead 145 

Vault Hill 61 

Vermilyee, Thomas 47 

Verveleen, Johannes 45 

Vincent, Elijah 136 

Vincent, Gilbert 136 

Vincent-Halsey Mansion 136, 138 

Volunteer Fire Department .... 185 
Vriedelandt 123, 173, 174 



Wakefield 35, 148 

Walworth, Chancellor 51 

War of 1812 145 

Ward, Andrew 135 

Ward Bread Company 41 

Ward's Island 54 

Ward, Samuel 135 

Woodstock 21, 141 

Warren, Elizabeth 103, 104, 105 

Warren Sage House 160 

Warren, Simon 103 

Washington, George, 3, 15, 16, 17, 46, 

47, 58, 61, 62, 65, 93, 100, 108, 109, 

112, 113, 114, 115, 126, 127, 128, 

129, 130, 137, 1-39, 146, 147, 148, 152, 

155, 156, 157 

Washington Bridge 53, 54 

Washington Bridge Park 57, 69 

Washington's Gun House 148 

Washington Hall 186 

Washingtonville 148 

Watson Estate 2, 39, 119 

Webb, William Henry 75 

Webb's Academy and Home .... 75 

Weberg, Theodore 184, 186 

Weckquaesgeek Indians, 1, 10, 106, 

123 
Wells, Hon. James L. Wells, 25, 71, 

102 
Westchester, 35, 72, 73, 99, 104, 119, 

121, 122, 144, 156, 173, 174, 179, 

180, 182, 183 
Westchester Avenue, 35, 37, 38, 39, 

43, 77, 119, 142, 179 
Westchester County, 10, 14, 15, 45, 

49, 55, 59, 106, l67, 110, 123, 128, 

141, 142, 157, 158, 159, 175, 176, 

177, 180 

Westchester Creek 43, 121, 127 

Westchester Golf Club 3, 119 

Westchester Guides 109 

Westchester Path 54 

Westchester Turnpike 143 

West Farms, 34, 35, 78, 92, 93, 108, 

109, 141, 143, 144, 145, 173, 183, 

185 

West Farms Cemetery 144 

West Farms Patent 89 

West Farms Presbyterian Church 143 

West India Company 7, 167 

West Morrisania 21 

White Plains, 3, 15, 33, 55, 58, 127, 

128, 129, 147, 148, 157, 169, 177 

White Plains, Battle of 59, 157 

Whiting Mansion 78 

Whitlock, Benjamin M 83 

"Whitlock's Folly" 84 

Whitman, Mrs. Sarah Helen, 151, 153 
Wild Boar Hill 63 



DEC 31 1313 



198 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Wilkins Creek 121 

Wilkins's Farmhouse 121 

Wilkins, Rev. Isaac 121, 182 

Wilkins, Gouverneur Morris . . . 121 

Willett, Elizabeth 102 

Willett's Point 126 

Willett, Thomas 120 

William III 13, 168 

William IV 62 

Williams, John 147 

Williams, Roger 119, 122 

Williamsbridge, 35, 141, 145, 146, 147, 
159 

Willis, N. P 154 

Winthrop, Gov. John 174 

"Wishing Rock" 148 

"Wishing Seat" 157 

Wolfe, Catherine Lorillard .... 79 

Wolf's Lane 176 



Woodbridge, Major 108 

Woodlawn 35 

Woodlawn Cemetery 20, 40, 81 

Woodlawn Heights 40 

WoodlawH Road 35, 145, 147 

Woodside Ill 

Wooster, General 146 

Wykagyl 34 

Yates, Robert 159 

Yonkers, 5, 7, 35, 40, 60, 155, 156, 157, 
169, 180 

Zborovirsky Farm 68 

Zborowsky Mansion 68 

Zborowsky, Martin 68 

Zerega Mansion 122 

Zerega's Point 122 

Zoological Gardens 65, 66, 77 



588 



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